V/  - 


Wm 


<S  .  2.®  .2-3  , 


Jffrnm  the  iCihranj  of 

Professor  Urojamitt  Urerkittriiigr  Warfirlk 

lEiliu'atbfb  by  him  In 
lljp  SJthrary  of 

Princeton  (Elteologtral  §»enunarg 

AC  8  . T86  1898 
Tupper,  Kerr  B.  b.  1854. 
Gladstone,  and  other 
addresses 


<3labstone 

Hnb  ©tber  Hbbresses 


Ikctc  JBogce  Puppet,  2>.  2>.,  XX.  H>. 

‘ Pastor  First  ‘Baptist  Cbuich,  ‘Philadelphia 

Butbor  of 

“Seven  Great  Lights,”  “  ‘Robertson’s  Living  Thoughts,” 
“  T)ia\,  the  ^Apostle  of  Cuba,”  “ <A  ‘Popular 
Treatise  on  Christian  ‘Baptism  ” 


Ipbflabelpbta 

Bmerican  JSaptist  publication  Society 

1420  Chestnut  Street 


Copyright  1898  by  the 

American  Baptist  Publication  Society 


tfrom  tbe  Society’s  own  iprese 


PREFACE 


THE  addresses  found  in  this  volume 
are,  for  the  most  part,  as  will  be  noted, 
addresses  delivered  by  the  author  at  anni¬ 
versaries  and  on  similar  occasions.  “  John 
Knox”  and  “Martin  Luther,”  previously 
published  as  parts  of  a  series  of  biographi¬ 
cal  lectures,  are  here  reproduced  by  per¬ 
mission  of  the  original  publishers. 


CONTENTS 


v/  PAGE 

I.  William  Ewart  Gladstone  ...  i 

y' 

II.  John  Knox  .  . 45 

III.  BAPTISTS  AND  LITERATURE . 81 

IV.  THE  THEME  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  MIN¬ 

ISTRY  . 121 


V.  IMMIGRATION  AND  CHRISTIANITY  .  .  163 

VI.  The  Supreme  mission  of  baptists  203 

>/ 

VII.  MARTIN  LUTHER 


237 


GLADSTONE 


AND  OTHER  ADDRESSES 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/gladstoneotheradOOtupp_O 


MtlUain  TOarren  XanOrum,  ID.  D. 

e ~Pastor  First  ^Baptist  Church,  (Atlanta,  Ga. 

MY  COMPANION  IN  YOUTH 
MY  CLASSMATE  IN  COLLEGE  AND  SEMINARY 
MY  CO-WORKER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY 

Ubls  worfe  Is,  without  bis  knowledge 

Olost  BffectionatelE  5>eDicateD 


WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE 


e Address  delivered  before  the  Young  Men’s  League 
of  the  Emmanuel  Baptist  Church ,  'Brooklyn, 

CT(.  Y.,  December ,  1894,  in  celebration 
of  the  eighty-fifth  anniversary 
of  Gladstone* s  birthday 


I 


AMONG  the  great  nations  that  have 
deeply  impressed  human  records 
and  widely  influenced  hu- 

.  .  ,  ^  ~  .  National  Iberoee 

man  history,  Great  Britain 
stands  pre-eminent  for  its  proud  and  noble 
list  of  national  heroes.  In  evidence  of  this 
fact  one  has  but  to  recall  a  few  names 
only  of  the  vast  host,  radiant  in  the  splen¬ 
did  galaxy  of  English  genius — statesmen 
like  Alfred  and  Burke,  soldiers  like  Marl¬ 
borough  and  Wellington,  poets  like  Shakes¬ 
peare  and  Milton,  philosophers  like  Bacon 
and  Locke,  litterateurs  like  Macaulay  and 
Johnson,  scientists  like  Newton  and  Davy, 
reformers  like  Whitfield  and  Wesley,  mar¬ 
tyrs  like  Bradford  and  Wycliffe,  orators 
like  Fox  and  Pitt,  political  leaders  like 
Peel  and  Palmerston,  philanthropists  like 
Howard  and  Nightingale,  and  preachers 
like  Hall  and  Spurgeon.  Confessedly  no 
other  people  of  the  past  or  of  the  present 

3 


William  Bwart  Gladstone 


can  furnish  among  its  heroes  so  magnifi¬ 
cent,  so  inspiring,  so  varied  an  exhibition 
of  genius  and  influence  as  this  land  of  cul¬ 
ture  and  civilization. 

And  yet,  one  of  the  greatest  names  in 
all  English  history — as  the  great  count 
greatness — has  not  been  thus  far  men¬ 
tioned  in  our  enumeration  of  noted  British 
characters.  Conspicuous  on  the  roll  of 
England’s  foremost  citizens  must  ever 
appear  the  name  of  one,  recognized  far 
and  wide  as  a  mighty  moral  force  as  well 
as  a  unique,  attractive  personality,  Wil¬ 
liam  Ewart  Gladstone — 


A  name  to  fright  all  tyrants  with  ;  a  light 
Unsetting  as  the  Polar  star ;  a  great  voice 
Heard  in  the  breathless  pauses  of  the  fight 
By  truth  and  freedom  ever  waged  with  wrong. 


©lactone  anl> 
©rowtb 


For  three-score  years  this  heroic  man 
has  been  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  Eng¬ 
lish  politics,  “  making  and 
unmaking  cabinets,  serving 
his  queen  and  his  country 
in  almost  every  capacity  in  office  and  op¬ 
position.”  In  1833  he  attracted  attention 
by  his  memorable  maiden  speech  against 

4 


<3laDetone  anD  <3rowtb 

the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Colonies,  and 
in  1893  he  created  unbounded  enthusiasm 
and  admiration,  not  only  as  the  central 
figure  in  the  British  Parliament,  but  also 
as  the  finest  type  of  statesman  in  the 
world.  What  changes  England  has  wit¬ 
nessed  during  these  wonderful,  progress¬ 
ive  decades  ! — development  of  material 
interests,  growth  in  art  and  science  and 
philosophy  and  literature,  expansion  of 
popular  liberties,  modification  of  vested 
rights,  abolition  of  West  Indies  slave  trade, 
removal  of  both  Jewish  and  Roman  Cath¬ 
olic  disabilities,  advance  in  municipal,  po¬ 
litical,  and  industrial  reform,  improvement 
of  poor  laws  and  prison  conditions,  more 
intelligent  apprehension  and  exercise  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty  ;  and  the  might¬ 
iest  factor  in  all  these  events,  epochs, 
revolutions,  accelerated  movements  in 
thought  and  action,  has  been  the  late 
powerful  leader  of  English  Liberal  forces. 
Not  extravagant  is  the  estimate  of  a  gifted 
writer,  when,  in  treating  of  Mr.  Glad¬ 
stone’s  rare  combination  of  varied  ac¬ 
complishments,  he  says : 

5  " 


TOUUlam  JE  watt  (BlaDstone 


Chatham  could  inspire  a  nation  with  his  energy, 
but,  compared  with  Gladstone,  he  was  poorly 
furnished  with  ideas  and  knowledge.  Pitt,  as 
probably  the  strongest  minister  that  ever  directed 
the  destinies  of  his  country,  has  left  no  monument 
of  legislation  by  which  he  can  be  remembered. 
Canning  was  a  foreign  minister,  and  nothing  else. 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  whom  Gladstone  recognized  as 
his  master,  although  an  estimable  administrator, 
a  useful  debater,  and  competent  tactician,  never 
showed  a  trace  of  the  divine  spark  of  genius  which 
reveals  itself  at  every  turn  in  Gladstone’s  career. 

And  this  author  gives  it  as  his  careful, 
candid  opinion,  that  Mr.  Gladstone  com¬ 
bines  the  eloquence  of  Fox,  the  experi¬ 
ence  of  Chatham,  the  courage  of  Pitt,  and 
the  financial  and  administrative  capacity 
of  Peel,  and  all  this  with  a  many-sided 
catholicity  of  mind  to  which  none  of  the 
others  might  justly  lay  claim. 

And  indeed,  some  such  comments  as 
these,  have  been  almost  universal  in 
the  British  Empire,  both 
cariEic'e  c°ms  among  Mr.  Gladstone’s  po¬ 
litical  opponents  and  advo¬ 
cates.  Thomas  Carlyle  appears  to  stand 

alone  in  his  lack  of  admiration  of  the 

6 


©tber  Undbents 


premier,  describing  him  “as  an  orator 
that  knew  nothing  as  it  ought  to  be 
known,  and  the  worst  kind  of  a  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  numerous  cants  of  the 
age.”  Poor  old  growler,  we  can  forgive 
him  and  not  feel  sorry  for  Mr.  Gladstone 
either  under  his  faint  praise,  when  we 
recall  that  the  old  Scotch  iconoclast  de¬ 
nominated  Keble  as  “an  ape,”  declared 
that  Cardinal  Newman  had  “  no  more 
brain  than  an  ordinary  rabbit,”  con¬ 
demned  Adam  Bede  as  “  simply  dull,” 
and  characterized  Daniel  O’Connell  as 
“the  chief  of  quacks  and  Demosthenes  of 
Blarney.”  Mr.  Gladstone  will  thrive  un¬ 
der  the  blows  of  such  a  critic. 

He  has  had  recently  other  humorous 
accidents  !  A  short  time  ago  his  eye  was 
injured  by  a  ginger-bread 

\  „  J  ©tber  UnctoentB 

nut,  thrown  in  the  “sheer 
exuberance  of  enthusiasm,”  by  an  old 
lady  who  admired  him,  and  that  nut  cre¬ 
ated  an  excitement  akin  to  that  produced 
by  a  Nihilist’s  bomb  in  Russia.  A  little 
later  he  was  trampled  on  by  an  angry 
cow  in  his  Hawarden  Park,  and  the  cow 

7 


'WHtlUam  J6wart  (Slafcstone 


got  such  notoriety,  from  contact  with  the 
great  statesman,  that  after  her  death  each 
of  her  teeth  sold  for  a  shilling,  and  her 
calf  was  promised  as  one  of  the  wonders 
of  the  World’s  Fair  at  Chicago.  More 
recently  a  cabman  ran  over  him,  and  a 
crank  shot  at  him,  but  he  still  lives,  able 
to  bear  all  attacks,  whether  by  Carlyle 
or  cow,  cabman  or  crank,  illustrating  the 
declaration  of  the  old  English  woman  some 
years  ago,  as  in  admiration  she  watched 
him  fell  a  tree,  “  Well,  well,  that’s  the 
ag-i-list  old  gent  I  ever  see  !  ” 

To  Americans,  for  special  reasons,  is 
Mr.  Gladstone  endeared  as  are  few  char¬ 
acters  beyond  the  sea.  No 
subject  of  a  foreign  realm, 
perhaps,  has  so  frequently, 
and  with  such  generosity  as  he,  spoken  in 
admiration  of  the  American  nation  as  a 
people  and  of  American  institutions  as 
natural  products  of  a  free  republic.  From 
his  lip  and  heart  have  come  such  words 
as  these:  “The  American  Constitution  is 
the  most  wonderful  work  ever  struck  off 

at  a  given  time  by  the  brain  and  purpose 

8 


©laDetone  anb  Bmericans 


of  man,  and  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the 
inventions  of  modern  politics.”  In  noble 
impartiality  he  likewise  writes  in  his 
“Kin  Beyond  the  Sea”:  “America  will 
probably  become  what  England  is  to-day, 
the  head  steward  in  the  great  household 
of  the  world,  the  employer  of  all  the 
employed,  because  her  service  will  be  the 
most  and  the  ablest.”  And  when  a  little 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago 
England  and  the  United  States  were  look¬ 
ing  across  the  sea  at  each  other  with 
glances  anything  but  those  of  love,  it  was 
Mr.  Gladstone  who,  in  a  deeply  impressive 
address,  spoke  these  calm,  judicious  words: 
“  To  me  it  appears  that  the  two  cardinal 
aims  we  ought  to  keep  in  view  in  the 
whole  discussion  of  this  question  are,  first, 
peace  and  a  thoroughly  cordial  under¬ 
standing  with  America;  and,  second,  the 
honor  and  fame  of  England.”  Well  does 
Hon.  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  formerly  United 
States  Minister  to  Spain,  congratulate  both 
Mr.  Gladstone  and  America  upon  these 
noble  words,  as  he  pleads  for  the  most 

9 


Wiliam  JEwart  Gladstone 


attractive  and  responsive  relationship  be¬ 
tween  mother  and  daughter  countries,  elo¬ 
quently  writing  as  a  ground  for  his  plea: 

Each  speaks  our  noble  English  tongue  in  its 
freedom,  its  dignity,  its  massive  simplicity,  and  to¬ 
gether  they  furnish  the  richest,  purest,  most  varied 
literature.  Each  has  the  common  law  and  an  in¬ 
dependent  judiciary,  universal  education,  equality 
of  citizenship  before  the  law,  and  an  unchained 
Bible.  And  so  well  may  each  join  the  other  in  do¬ 
ing  honor  to  the  noblest  living  champion  of  justice 
and  right,  honor  and  freedom,  peace  and  good-will, 

this  lover  of  man  and  servant  of  God. 

So  broad  and  comprehensive  is  the  life 
of  Mr.  Gladstone  that  one  should  not 
attempt  in  a  popular  address  like  the 
present  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  it; 
and  so,  sketching  the  leading  events  in 
his  career,  we  shall  seek  only  to  analyze 
the  character  and  conditions  which  have 
rendered  him  facile  princeps  among  Brit¬ 
ish  statesmen  and  imparted  to  him  that 
name  and  fame  which  have  crossed  all 
seas. 

William  Ewart  Gladstone  was  born  in 

Liverpool,  December  29,  1809,  that  nota- 

10 


^Sirtb  anD  parentage 


ble  year  which  gave  birth  to  Tennyson, 
Darwin,  Mendelssohn,  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  Elizabeth  Barrett 
Browning,  and  Edgar  Allan 
Poe.  Though  he  first  saw 
the  light  in  English  Lancashire,  which 
produced  two  other  orators  of  recent 
times,  John  Bright  and  Lord  Derby,  our 
subject  was  Scotch  in  ancestry.  “  The 
memory  of  the  parents  to  whom  I  owe 
my  being,”  writes  he,  “combines,  with 
various  other  considerations,  to  make  me 
glad  and  thankful  that  the  blood  that  runs 
in  my  veins  is  exclusively  Scottish.” 
Originally,  the  family  name  was  Glede- 
stanes,  or  rock-hawks;  later,  Gledstanes, 
then  Gladstanes,  then  Gladstones ;  and 
finally,  in  1835,  it  was  written  Gladstone, 
as  all  the  world  knows  it  to-day. 

Like  most  notable  characters  of  history, 
Mr.  Gladstone  descended  from  parents  of 
sterling  and  conspicuous  worth,  the  mar¬ 
riage  of  his  father  and  mother  uniting,  as 
a  historian  has  expressed  it,  the  robust 
and  business-like  qualities  of  the  Scotch 
Lowlander  with  the  poetic  imagination, 


■Militant  tEwart  (Blabetone 


the  sensibility,  and  fire  of  the  Gaul.  The 
father  was  a  man  of  pre-eminent  ability, 
beginning  his  business  life  as  a  humble 
clerk,  developing  into  a  merchant  prince 
of  Liverpool,  becoming,  finally,  a  baronet 
and  member  of  Parliament.  At  the  ripe 
age  of  eighty-seven  years  he  passed  away, 
crowned  with  the  benedictions  of  a  grate¬ 
ful  nation,  “a  man  of  unbending  will,  of 
inexhaustible  energy,  of  absolute  self- 
reliance;  a  stern,  strong,  imperious  nature, 
pre-eminent  in  all  those  qualities  that 
overcome  obstacles,  conquer  fortunes,  and 
command  the  respect  of  the  world. ”  He 
was  a  typical  citizen  of  the  nation  that 
has  made  itself  so  dominant.  As  we  are 
charmed  with  Burns’  eulogy  on  his  revered 
father,  engraved  as  an  epitaph,  so  we  de¬ 
light  to  read  Gladstone’s  portrait  of  his 
noble  father  as  possessed  of  that  “eager¬ 
ness  of  affection,  keen  appreciation  of 
humor,  indescribable  frankness  and  sim¬ 
plicity  of  character,  which,  crowning  other 
qualities,  made  him,  I  think, — and  I  strive 
to  think  impartially, — nearly  or  quite  the 

most  interesting  old  man  I  ever  knew.” 

12 


flQaln  afacts 


flUatn  ffacts 


Glance  now  at  the  main  facts  in  Mr. 
Gladstone’s  life,  as  in  rapid  panoramic 
review  they  are  presented  : 
his  entrance,  after  careful 
home-training  under  a  wise  father  and 
tender  mother,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years 
at  Eton,  and  his  diligent  prosecution  of 
studies  there  for  six  years ;  his  associa¬ 
tion  at  this  famous  school  with  Frederick 
Tennyson,  brother  of  the  great  poet  and 
himself  a  poet,  Alexander  Kinglake,  author 
of  “  Eothen,”  James  Bruce,  afterward 
Earl  of  Elgin,  Charles  Canning,  later  Earl 
and  Viceroy  of  India,  and  with  Arthur 
Hallam,  whom  Tennyson  has  immortalized 
in  his  “In  Memoriam,”  the  two  youths 
editors  together  of  the  “  Eton  Miscel¬ 
lany  ”  ;  Hallam’s  testimony  of  his  youth¬ 
ful  colleague’s  worth  in  the  lines,  “What¬ 
ever  may  be  our  lot,  I  am  confident  that 
Gladstone  is  a  bud  that  will  bloom  with  a 
richer  fragrance  than  almost  any  whose 
early  promise  I  have  witnessed  ”  ;  his 
private  studies  for  two  years  under  Dr. 
Turner,  afterward  Bishop  of  Calcutta  ; 
his  graduation  at  Christ  Church  College, 

13 


Wiliam  Bwart  Gladstone 


Oxford,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  bearing 
off  the  “  double  first  ”  honor  in  his  class  ; 
his  prominence,  while  a  student,  as  a  de¬ 
bater,  with  equal  ease  discussing  intelli¬ 
gently  and  impressively  such  questions  as 
Catholic  Emancipation,  Jewish  Disabil¬ 
ities,  Whig  Reform  Bills,  and  the  Wel¬ 
lington  Administration,  displaying  gener¬ 
ally,  we  are  told,  “a  habit  of  rigorous 
definition,  a  microscopic  care  in  the  choice 
of  words,  and  a  notable  tendency  to  ana¬ 
lyze  every  sentiment  and  phrase,  and  to 
distinguish  with  intense  precaution  be¬ 
tween  declarations  almost  exactly  simi¬ 
lar  ”  ;  his  stay  of  seven  months  after 
graduation  on  the  continent ;  his  call  from 
Italy  in  1832,  when  England  was  in  a  state 
of  political  upheaval  and  revolution,  to 
become  conservative  candidate  from  New¬ 
ark  ;  his  election  and  his  maiden  speech, 
May  17,  1833,  on  the  radical  project  of 
abolishing  Colonial  slavery  ;  his  appoint¬ 
ment  by  Sir  Robert  Peel  as  Junior  Lord 
of  the  Treasury  ;  his  retirement  after  the 
Peel  Ministry  ;  his  promotion  in  1835  to 
Under-Secretary  for  the  Colonies ;  his 

14 


fllain  tfacte 


return  to  Parliament  upon  Queen  Vic¬ 
toria’s  accession  ;  the  formation  of  a  new 
ministry  by  Peel,  and  Mr.  Gladstone’s 
appointment  as  Vice-President  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  Master  of  the  Mint; 
his  first  published  work  on  “  The  State  in 
its  Relation  to  the  Church,”  which  Ma¬ 
caulay,  even  when  adversely  criticising  it, 
generously  eulogized  ;  the  publication  by 
him  a  little  later  of  “  Church  Principles 
Considered,”  and  “A  Chapter  in  Church 
and  State  ”  ;  his  marriage  in  1839  to 
Catherine  Glynn,  a  lady  of  intelligence 
and  culture ;  his  resignation  from  the 
government  “for  conscientious  reasons 
connected  with  ecclesiastical  principles  ”  ; 
his  return  as  a  member  from  Oxford  ;  his 
memorable  debates  by  the  side  of  Peel 
and  Palmerston,  on  the  Corn  Law  Repeal 
Act ;  his  frequent  contests  later  with  Dis¬ 
raeli  ;  the  death  of  Peel,  the  disaffection 
of  his  party,  and  Mr.  Gladstone’s  with¬ 
drawal  from  both  Whigs  and  Tories;  his 
visit  in  1851  to  Naples,  and  his  influence 
through  vigorous  letters  in  overthrowing 
Ferdinand’s  system  of  cruelty  in  connec- 

15 


THUUltam  Bwart  Gladstone 


tion  with  Neapolitan  prison  life  ;  his  un¬ 
expected,  though  firm  and  intelligent, 
conversion  to  the  Liberal  party  ;  his 
acceptance  of  the  honorable  position  of 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  under  the 
Aberdeen  Administration  ;  his  first  Budget 
speech  in  1853,  when,  for  five  consecutive 
hours,  “he  poured  forth  a  flood  of  oratory 
which  made  arithmetic  astonishingly  easy 
and  gave  an  unaccustomed  grace  to  sta¬ 
tistics  ”  ;  his  marvelous  ability  in  finan¬ 
ciering  during  the  Crimean  War ;  his 
appointment  as  Lord  High  Commissioner 
Extraordinary  to  the  Ionian  Isles  ;  his  vol¬ 
untary  resignation  in  1855  ;  his  devotion 
at  this  time  to  the  study  of  Homer  and  the 
Homeric  age  ;  his  union  again  with  the 
Palmerston  ministry  ;  his  unjust  rejection 
for  paltry  political  reasons  by  his  Oxford 
constituency  ;  his  appointment  in  1865  as 
Lord  Rector  of  Edinburgh  University  ;  his 
re-election  by  South  Lancashire,  “an  un¬ 
muzzled  representative”;  his  defeat  by 
Disraeli ;  his  election  as  premier  in  1868  ; 
the  wonderful  years  of  ’69,  ’70,  ’71,  and 

’72,  which  witnessed  under  Mr.  Glad- 

16 


friatn  Jfacts 


stone’s  leadership  the  passage  of  the 
Irish  Church  Act,  Endowed  School  Bill, 
Bankruptcy  Bill,  Habitual  Criminal  Bill, 
Elementary  Education  Act,  University 
Tests  Bill,  Trades’  Union  Bill,  Scotch 
Education  Act,  along  with  the  settlement 
of  the  Alabama  Claims  and  the  conclu¬ 
sions  of  a  new  French  treaty  ;  the  inevi¬ 
table  reaction  in  1873  that  followed  all 
these  triumphal  Gladstonian  marches  and 
the  great  premier’s  retirement ;  the  ever 
irrepressible  Eastern  Question  and  Mr. 
Gladstone’s  fearless  assistance  of  right 
and  heroic  resistance  of  wrong  ;  his  cour¬ 
ageous  condemnation  of  the  Afghan  and 
Zulu  wars  ;  his  election  in  1874  f°r  the 
second  time  as  Prime  Minister,  “the  un¬ 
questioned  chief,  the  idol,  the  pride  of  the 
victorious  army  of  Liberalism  ”  ;  his  resig¬ 
nation  in  1885,  and  his  refusal  of  an  earl¬ 
dom  ;  his  re-election  in  1886  for  the  third 
term  as  Prime  Minister ;  his  succession 
by  Lord  Salisbury  ;  his  elevation  for  the 
fourth  time  as  England’s  Premier,  and 
that  too,  in  the  magnificence  and  splendor 
of  his  well-preserved  powers,  though  a 

B  17 


TKHUUam  JEwart  Gladstone 


man  eighty-four  years  old,  and  finally  his 
graceful,  voluntary  retirement  into  private 
life.  With  all  this  it  is  no  wonder  that  the 
world  elevates  him  to  a  unique  place.  It 
is  no  wonder  too,  that  he  could  include  in 
his  last  cabinet  such  men  as  Mr.  Morley, 
the  Irish  Secretary,  one  of  the  ablest  of 
living  writers  of  English ;  Prof.  Bryce, 
Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancashire, 
both  historian  and  author  on  political 
economy  ;  Sir  George  O.  Trevelyan,  Sec¬ 
retary  for  Scotland,  nephew  and  biogra¬ 
pher  of  Lord  Macaulay  ;  Lord  Houghton, 
Viceroy  of  Ireland,  a  poet  of  varied  gifts  ; 
and  Lord  Roseberry,  the  Foreign  Secre¬ 
tary,  an  author  of  an  attractive  life  of 
Pitt — all  men  of  intellectual  culture  and 
moral  worth — 

Men  whom  the  lust  of  lucre  cannot  kill, 

Men  whom  the  spoils  of  office  cannot  buy, 

Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a  will, 

Men  who  have  honor  and  will  not  die. 

Tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog 
In  public  duty  and  in  private  thinking. 

With  this  rapidly  drawn  sketch  before 

us  we  may  now  take  a  brief  glance  at  Mr. 

18 


StuDent  anD  Butbor 


Stubent  anb 
Hutbor 


Gladstone  as  he  appears  in  four  distinct 
and  notable  directions :  as  student,  as 
statesman,  as  orator,  and  as  man. 

In  the  first  place,  the  distinguished 
premier  present  to  us  an  interesting  and 
stimulating  study  as  student 
and  author.  As  far  back  as 
1827,  we  find  Mr.  Gladstone, 
a  youth  then  of  only  eighteen  years,  win¬ 
ning  for  himself  golden  opinions  as  editor 
of  the  “  Eton  Miscellany,  ”  “  writing  with 
equal  facility  in  prose  and  poetry,  and 
translating  with  ease  from  the  Greek 
and  Latin. ”  He  graduated,  as  has  been 
pointed  out,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years  with  double  honors  at  Oxford. 
During  his  busy,  bustling,  palpitating 
political  career,  he  has  always  found  time 
to  gather  information,  stimulate  brain,  and 
grow  in  wisdom.  He  has  wide  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  the  laws  of  language  and 
thought,  of  nature  and  numbers.  He  has 
both  appetite  and  aptitude  for  mental 
culture.  “  So  wide  are  his  reading  and 
sympathies,”  writes  an  admiring  biogra¬ 
pher,  “such  the  variety  and  plenitude  of 

19 


TKHUltam  Bwart  (BlaDstone 


his  intellectual  powers,  that  his  writings 
are  both  numerous  and  inclusive  of  a 
vast  range  of  topics — historical,  political, 
ecclesiastical,  religious,  artistic,  economic, 
literary,  and  practical. ”  His  library  con¬ 
tains  twenty-four  thousand  volumes, 
every  volume  of  which  has  been  put 
“  into  its  nest  ”  with  his  own  hands.  His 
daughter  wrote  recently : 

Every  day  he  looks  over  a  number  of  book¬ 
sellers’  catalogues,  and  there  are  certain  subjects — 
anything,  for  instance,  about  witchcraft,  strange 
religions,  dueling,  gypsies,  marriage,  Homer, 
Shakespeare,  Dante — which  are  sure  of  getting 
an  order.  He  usually  has  three  books  on  hand 
at  once,  of  various  degrees  of  solidity,  the  eve¬ 
ning  one  generally  a  novel.  Aristotle,  St.  Augus¬ 
tine,  Dante,  and  Bishop  Butler  are  the  authorities 
that  have  most  deeply  impressed  him,  so  he  him¬ 
self  has  written. 

His  literary  versatility  may  be  illus¬ 
trated  by  the  fact  that  during  his  last 
Midlothian  campaign  and  general  election, 
he  had  in  preparation  simultaneously  an 
article  on  Home  Rule,  a  dissertation  on 
the  Psalms,  a  paper  for  the  Oriental 

Congress,  and  his  noted  Oxford  lecture 

20 


XtteratE  Studies 


on  “The  Rise  and  Progress  of  Learning 

in  the  University  of  Oxford.” 

Take  his  studies  of  Homer  and  the 

times  of  the  great  poet.  Few  works  upon 

this  inspiring  and  difficult 

,  .  ,  ,  .  literary  StuMes 

subject  have  been  more 

thorough  and  satisfactory  than  that  of 
Mr.  Gladstone,  as  with  wide  reach  of  in¬ 
tellectual  power  and  a  generous  stock  of 
information  he  discusses  Homer’s  place 
in  literature,  the  trustworthiness  of  his 
writings,  the  fundamental  aims  of  the 
poet,  along  with  the  ethnology  and  my¬ 
thology  of  the  Greek  races — the  whole 
production  a  mighty  monument  of  learn¬ 
ing  and  industry.  And  in  other  directions 
Mr.  Gladstone’s  studies  have  been  careful 
and  broad,  as  evinced  by  his  essays  on 
Vaticanism,  Ritualism,  Divorce,  Church 
of  England,  Throne  and  Prince  Consort, 
Socrates,  Tennyson,  Kin  Beyond  the  Sea, 
Hellenic  Factor  in  the  Eastern  Problem, 
Aggressions  in  Egypt,  Freedom  in  the 
East,  Impregnable  Rock  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  minor  writings.  Now,  as  poet,  he 
analyzes  Davidic  psalms  and  Homeric 

2  I 


William  Bwart  Gladstone 


poems ;  now,  as  scientist,  he  discusses 
the  Creative  Week ;  now,  as  jurist,  he 
examines  Mosaic  legislation ;  now,  as 
ethnologist  and  archaeologist,  he  brings 
corroborative  evidences  of  scriptural  in¬ 
spiration  from  Egyptian  sepulchres  and 
Palestinian  rivers. 

The  political  world  needs  more  such 
gifted  spirits.  There  is  a  pressing  demand 
on  every  hand  for  the  Gladstonian  type 
of  statesman.  Our  age  cries  out  for  more 
public-spirited  men,  with  minds  devel¬ 
oped,  trained,  refined  by  communion  with 
the  higher  forms  of  thought.  Such  alone 
can  stand  before  our  proud  age  of  enlight¬ 
enment  and  progress  and  declare  with 
marked,  effective  force  that  our  beautiful 
Christian  fabric  is  never  to  be  overthrown 
nor  even  jostled  by  the  strongest  crowbar 
of  human  science.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  an  intellectual  power  like  Mr.  Glad¬ 
stone,  even  though  in  retirement,  is  able 
to  gather  about  him  to-day  the  strongest 
minds,  the  sublimest  ideas,  the  ripest 
scholarship,  and  the  most  far-reaching 

plans  of  the  British  Empire.  One  smiles, 

22 


Bs  Statesman 


yet  sympathizes,  with  the  mistake  when 
he  reads  that  recently  a  rural  minister  in 
Kent,  examining  a  class  of  boys,  asked, 
“Who  is  the  patron  saint  of  England?  ” 
and  received  the  reply,  with  one  voice, 
“Mr.  Gladstone. ” 

As  a  statesman,  however,  even  more 
than  as  a  litterateur ,  Mr.  Gladstone  arrests 
attention  and  commands  ad- 

.  ..  .  Bs  Statesman 

miration.  Eloquently  has  an 
American  editor  lately  written  of  this  as¬ 
pect  of  the  life  of  Hawarden’s  sage,  as  he 
declares  that — 

For  three-score  memorable  years  this  tireless 
gladiator  has  led  the  vanguard  in  assaults  on 
entrenched  wrong,  as  under  his  magnetic  leader¬ 
ship  traditional  and  deep-rooted  heresies  in  Church 
and  State  have  been  swept  away,  suffrage  broad¬ 
ened,  burdens  removed,  public  servants  held  to  a 
higher  plane  of  services,  and  corporations  held  in 
the  rigid  vise  of  responsibility  ;  in  short,  England, 
under  Gladstone,  has  been  given  a  cleaner  official 
air  to  breathe,  wider  latitudes  of  citizenship, 
stronger  safeguards  of  law,  and  more  potent  codes 
of  equity  in  foreign  relations. 

Of  course,  occasions  may  be  found  here 
and  there  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  public  career 

23 


TOlUam  3Ewart  Gladstone 


when  he  subjects  himself  to  adverse  criti¬ 
cism,  for,  with  all  his  greatness,  the  man 
is  not  perfect;  but  take  his  political  life  as 
a  whole,  and  it  is  found  to  be  marvelously 
noble  and  true.  In  this  connection  we 
shall  not  deal  with  him  in  a  general  way, 
but  rather  specify  the  peculiar  elements 
that  enter  into  his  statesmanlike  char¬ 
acter  and  honorable  career. 

As  a  financier,  our  subject’s  history  has 
been  most  remarkable.  “Beyond  any 
man  that  has  ever  lived,’’ 

R 0  financier  ,  ,  . , 

declares  a  rather  too  enthu¬ 
siastic  writer,  “Mr.  Gladstone  has  accom¬ 
plished  the  impossible  and  squared  the 
circle  in  finance.  He  has  thrown  a  halo 
around  this  science,  and  brought  it,  as 
well  as  other  great  questions  of  adminis¬ 
tration,  within  the  realm  of  popular  appre¬ 
hension.”  Contemplate  some  significant 
facts:  In  1853,  under  the  Earl  of  Aber¬ 
deen,  he  became  chancellor  of  the  ex¬ 
chequer;  in  1855,  under  Palmerston,  he 
was  “counted”  chancellor  of  the  ex¬ 
chequer;  in  1857,  under  Earl  Russell,  he 

once  again  became  chancellor  of  the  ex- 

24 


Bs  a  XeaDer 


chequer;  in  1873  and  1880,  while  premier, 
he  acted  as  chancellor  of  the  exchequer. 
And  how  grandly  our  statesman  hero  car¬ 
ried  into  practical  effect  his  strong  finan¬ 
cial  views  may  be  inferred  from  these  few 
facts  which  are  presented  by  Mr.  Glad¬ 
stone’s  most  reliable  biographer :  From 

1856  to  1890,  England’s  national  debt  was 
reduced  from  £800,800,000  to  £694,000,- 
000;  from  1862  to  1865,  taxation  reduction 
amounted  to  £3,000,000  annually;  from 

1857  to  1878,  taxes  were  repealed  to  the 
amount  of  £39,000,000;  in  1861,  Mr.  Glad¬ 
stone  reduced  the  income  tax  and  abol¬ 
ished  paper  duty;  in  1863,  taxes  were  again 
reduced  £3,500,000;  in  1864,  £3,000,000; 
in  1866,  £5,000,000;  and  in  1874,  he  turned 
over  “the  most  flourishing  revenue  ever 
handed  by  a  Parliament  to  its  successor 
and  a  surplus  of  £6,000,000.”  So  much 
for  these  interesting  and  easily  to  be  re¬ 
membered  statistics. 

Again  we  must  admire  Mr.  Gladstone  as 
a  leader  of  men,  a  molder 

,  ,  ,.  ,  .  Bs  a  Xea£»er 

of  public  sentiment,  a  gigan¬ 
tic  director  of  national  affairs,  at  home 

25 


William  JEwart  Gladstone 

and  abroad.  In  his  masterful  Character 
Sketch  of  our  subject,  W.  T.  Stead  does 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  to  Mr.  Gladstone, 
more  than  any  other  influence,  must  be 
attributed  the  destruction  of  Turkish 
dominion  in  Europe,  the  enlargement  of 
Greece,  the  establishment  of  British  power 
in  Egypt,  the  annexation  of  New  Guinea 
and  North  Borneo,  the  reform  of  the  tariff, 
the  extension  of  franchise  to  the  workman, 
the  disestablishment  and  disendowing  of 
a  national  church,  and  the  repeal  of  uni¬ 
versity  tests.  Who  will  deny  that  the 
accomplishment  of  such  ends  as  these,  in 
the  face  of  tradition  and  extraordinary 
opposition,  could  have  been  wrought  only 
by  one  of  Herculean  strength,  Napoleonic 
planning,  Cromwell-like  faith  in  God  and 
right  ?  Whether  we  agree  with  all  the 
positions  assumed  and  defended  by  this 
great  leader  of  mighty  and  far-reaching 
movements,  or  not,  we  can  admit  with 
the  great-brained  John  Stuart  Mill,  when 
he  declares,  that  if  ever  there  was  a  states¬ 
man  in  whom  the  spirit  of  improvement 

is  incarnate,  of  whose  career  as  a  minister 

26 


Mis  Oratorical  powers 


the  characteristic  feature  has  been  to  seek 
out  things  which  required  or  admitted  of 
improvement,  instead  of  waiting  to  be  com¬ 
pelled  or  even  solicited  to  do  it,  that  honor 
belongs  to  William  Ewart  Gladstone. 

The  oratorical  powers  of  Mr.  Gladstone 
present  us  next  a  study  of  delightful  in¬ 
terest.  The  testimony  on 
this  point  by  Justin  Me- 
Carthy  is  very  forceful, 
when  he  writes : 

We  are  not  inclined  to  call  Gladstone  the  greatest 
English  orator  of  our  times  when  we  recall  some  of 
the  finest  speeches  of  Bright ;  but  did  we  regard 
parliamentary  speaking  as  a  mere  instrument  of 
parliamentary  business  and  debate,  then  unques¬ 
tionably  Gladstone  is  not  only  the  greatest,  but 
by  far  the  greatest  English  orator  of  our  times, 
for  he  has  a  richer  combination  of  gifts  than  any 
other  man  we  can  recall,  and  he  uses  them  oftenest 
with  effect. 

The  men  for  whom  we  would  claim  ora¬ 
torical  gifts  superior  to  those  of  the  late 
premier  are  Macaulay,  Pitt,  Fox,  Burke, 
Chatham,  Bright,  and  Disraeli ;  but  while 

the  first  of  these  leaders  presented  more 

27 


William  Bwart  Gladstone 


carefully  prepared  productions,  the  second 
and  third  had  more  graces  of  manner,  the 
fourth  was  more  finished  in  style,  the  fifth 
excelled  more  as  an  actor,  the  sixth  was 
more  simple  and  direct  in  utterance,  and 
the  last  more  witty  and  satirical,  not  one 
of  them  perhaps  combined  as  many  ele¬ 
ments  of  effective  speaking  as  does  Mr. 
Gladstone.  Intelligent  in  thought,  coura¬ 
geous  of  heart,  direct  and  fearless  in 
speech,  he  is  ready  for  any  controversial 
antagonist.  At  times  pathetic,  at  times 
stormful,  always  sincere  and  without 
cant,  he  carries  conviction  whenever  he 
speaks.  Read  his  great  speech  of  1850, 
in  answer  to  Lord  Palmerston,  on  Eng¬ 
land’s  Relation  to  Greece,  and  mark  the 
skill  with  which  he  makes  point  after 
point  out  of  his  opponent’s  Civis  Romanus 
sum: 

Sir,  great  as  is  the  influence  and  power  of 
Britain,  she  cannot  afford  to  follow  for  any  length 
of  time  a  self-isolating  policy.  It  would  be  a  con¬ 
travention  of  the  law  of  nature  and  of  God,  if  it 
were  possible  for  any  single  nation  of  Christen¬ 
dom  to  emancipate  itself  from  the  obligations 
which  bind  all  other  nations,  and  to  arrogate  in 

28 


IHte  Oratorical  powers 


the  face  of  mankind,  a  position  of  peculiar  priv¬ 
ilege.  And  now  I  will  grapple  with  the  noble  lord 
on  the  ground  which  he  selected  for  himself,  in  the 
most  triumphant  portion  of  his  speech,  by  his 
reference  to  those  emphatic  words,  Civis  T{omanus 
sum.  He  vaunted,  amid  the  cheers  of  his  sup¬ 
porters,  that  under  his  administration  an  English¬ 
man  should  be,  throughout  the  world,  what  the 
citizen  of  Rome  had  been.  What,  then,  sir,  was  a 
Roman  citizen?  He  was  the  member  of  a  priv¬ 
ileged  caste  ;  he  belonged  to  a  conquering  race,  to 
a  nation  that  held  all  others  bound  down  by  the 
strong  arm  of  power.  For  him  there  was  to  be 
an  exceptional  system  of  law  ;  for  him  principles 
were  to  be  asserted,  and  by  him  rights  were  to  be 
enjoyed  that  were  denied  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Is  such,  then,  the  view  of  the  noble  lord  as  to  the 
relation  which  is  to  subsist  between  England  and 
other  countries?  Does  he  make  the  claim  for  us 
that  we  are  to  be  uplifted  upon  a  platform  high 
above  the  standing-ground  of  all  other  nations? 
It  is,  indeed,  too  clear,  not  only  from  the  expres¬ 
sions,  but  from  the  whole  tone  of  the  speech  of  the 
noble  viscount,  that  too  much  of  this  notion  is 
lurking  in  his  mind  ;  that  he  adopts,  in  part,  that 
vain  conception  that  we,  forsooth,  have  a  mission 
to  be  the  censors  of  vice  and  folly,  of  abuse  and 
imperfection,  among  the  other  countries  of  the 
world  ;  that  we  are  to  be  the  universal  school¬ 
masters  ;  that  all  those  who  hesitate  to  recognize 
our  office  can  be  governed  only  by  prejudice  or  per- 

29 


William  JEwart  ©labstone 


sonal  animosity,  and  should  have  the  blind  war  of 
diplomacy  forthwith  declared  against  them.  And 
certainly,  if  the  business  of  a  foreign  secretary 
properly  were  to  carry  on  diplomatic  wars,  all 
must  admit  that  the  noble  lord  is  a  master  in  the 
discharge  of  his  functions.  What,  sir,  ought  a 
foreign  secretary  to  be?  Is  he  to  be  like  some 
gallant  knight  at  a  tournament  of  old,  pricking 
forth  into  the  lists,  armed  at  all  points,  confiding 
in  his  sinews  and  his  skill,  challenging  all  comers 
for  the  sake  of  honor,  and  having  no  other  duty 
than  to  lay  as  many  as  possible  of  his  adversaries 
sprawling  in  the  dust?  If  such  is  the  idea  of  a 
good  foreign  secretary,  I,  for  one,  would  vote  to 
the  noble  lord  his  present  appointment  for  life. 

But,  sir,  I  do  not  understand  the  duty  of  a  sec¬ 
retary  for  foreign  affairs  to  be  of  such  a  character. 
1  understand  it  to  be  his  duty  to  conciliate  peace 
with  dignity.  I  think  it  to  be  the  very  first  of  all 
his  duties  studiously  to  observe,  and  to  exalt  in 
honor  among  mankind,  that  great  code  of  princi¬ 
ples  which  is  termed  the  law  of  nations.  I,  for  my 
part,  am  of  opinion  that  England  will  stand  shorn 
of  a  chief  part  of  her  glory  and  pride  if  she  shall 
be  found  to  have  separated  herself  through  the 
policy  she  pursues  abroad,  from  the  moral  supports 
which  the  general  and  fixed  convictions  of  man¬ 
kind  afford,  if  the  day  shall  come  when  she  may 
continue  to  excite  the  wonder  and  the  fear  of  other 
nations,  but  in  which  she  shall  have  no  part  in 
their  affection  and  regard.  No,  sir,  let  it  not  be 

30 


Mis  Oratorical  powers 


so  ;  let  us  recognize,  and  let  us  recognize  with 
frankness,  the  equality  of  the  weak  with  the 
strong,  the  principles  of  brotherhood  among  na¬ 
tions,  and  of  their  sacred  independence.  When 
we  are  seeking  for  the  maintenance  of  the  rights 
which  belong  to  our  fellow-subjects  resident  in 
Greece,  let  us  do  as  we  would  be  done  by,  and  let 
us  pay  all  the  respect  to  a  feeble  State,  and  to  the 
infancy  of  free  institutions,  which  we  should  desire 
and  should  exact  from  others  toward  their  maturity 
and  their  strength. 

Let  us  refrain  from  all  gratuitous  and  arbitrary 
meddling  in  the  internal  concerns  of  other  States, 
even  as  we  would  resent  the  same  interference  if  it 
were  attempted  to  be  practised  toward  ourselves. 
If  the  noble  lord  has  indeed  acted  on  these  princi¬ 
ples,  let  the  government  to  which  he  belongs  have 
your  verdict  in  its  favor ;  but  if  he  has  departed 
from  them,  as  I  contend,  as  I  humbly  think  and 
urge  upon  you  that  it  has  been  too  amply  proved, 
then  the  House  of  Commons  must  not  shrink 
from  the  performance  of  its  duty  under  whatever 
expectations  of  momentary  obloquy  and  reproach, 
because  we  shall  have  done  what  is  right ;  we 
shall  enjoy  the  peace  of  our  own  consciences,  and 
receive,  whether  a  little  sooner  or  a  little  later,  the 
approval  of  the  public  voice  for  having  entered 
our  solemn  protest  against  a  system  of  policy, 
which  we  believe,  nay,  we  know,  whatever  may 
be  its  first  aspect,  must  of  necessity  in  its  final  re¬ 
sults  be  unfavorable  even  to  the  security  of  British 

3i 


William  JSwart  ©laDstone 


subjects  resident  abroad,  which  it  professes  so 
much  to  study ;  unfavorable  to  the  dignity  of  the 
country,  which  the  motion  of  the  honorable  and 
learned  member  asserts  it  preserves  ;  and  equally 
unfavorable  to  that  other  great  and  sacred  object 
which  also  it  suggests  to  our  recollection,  the  main¬ 
tenance  of  peace  with  the  nations  of  the  world. 

And  again,  hear  the  conclusion  of  Mr. 
Gladstone’s  eloquent  speech  on  the  Irish 
Church  in  1868  : 

There  are  many  who  think  that  to  lay  hands 
upon  the  national  church  establishment  of  a  coun¬ 
try  is  a  profane  and  unhallowed  act.  I  respect 
that  feeling.  I  sympathize  with  it,  while  I  think 
it  my  duty  to  overcome  and  repress  it.  But,  if 
it  be  an  error,  it  is  an  error  entitled  to  respect. 
There  is  something  in  the  idea  of  a  national  estab¬ 
lishment  of  religion,  of  a  solemn  appropriation  of  a 
part  of  the  commonwealth  for  conferring  upon  all 
those  who  are  ready  to  receive  it  what  we  know 
to  be  an  inestimable  benefit ;  of  saving  that  por¬ 
tion  of  the  inheritance  from  private  selfishness,  in 
order  to  extract  from  it,  if  we  can,  pure  and  un¬ 
mixed  advantages  of  the  highest  order  for  the 
population  at  large.  There  is  something  in  this 
so  attractive  that  it  is  an  image  that  must  always 
command  the  homage  of  the  many.  It  is  some¬ 
what  like  the  kingly  ghost  in  “  Hamlet,”  of  which 
one  of  the  characters  of  Shakespeare  says : 

32 


me  Oratorical  powers 


We  do  it  wrong,  being  so  majestical, 

To  offer  it  the  show  of  violence  ; 

For  it  is  as  the  air,  invulnerable. 

And  our  vain  blows  malicious  mockery. 

But,  sir,  this  is  to  view  a  religious  establish¬ 
ment  upon  one  side  only,  upon  what  I  may  call 
the  ethereal  side.  It  has  likewise  a  side  of  earth  ; 
and  here  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote  some  lines 
written  by  the  present  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  at  a 
time  when  his  genius  was  devoted  to  the  muses. 
He  said,  in  speaking  of  mankind  ; 

We  who  did  our  lineage  high 
Draw  from  beyond  the  starry  sky. 

And  yet  upon  the  other  side, 

To  earth  and  to  its  dust  allied. 

And  so  the  Church  Establishment,  regarded  in 
its  theory  and  in  its  aim,  is  beautiful  and  attract¬ 
ive.  Yet  what  is  it  but  an  appropriation  of  public 
property — an  appropriation  of  the  fruits  of  labor 
and  of  skill  to  certain  purposes?  and  unless  these 
purposes  are  fulfilled,  that  appropriation  cannot  be 
justified.  Therefore,  sir,  I  cannot  but  feel  that  we 
must  set  aside  fears  which  thrust  themselves  upon 
the  imagination  and  act  upon  the  sober  dictates  of 
our  judgment. 

I  do  not  know  in  what  country  so  great  a  change, 
so  great  a  transition  has  been  proposed  for  the 
ministers  of  a  religious  communion  who  have  en¬ 
joyed  for  many  ages  the  preferred  position  of  an 
Established  Church.  I  can  well  understand  that 
to  many  in  the  Irish  Establishment  that  such  a 
c  33 


William  JEwart  OlaDstone 


change  appears  to  be  nothing  less  than  ruin  and 
destruction ;  from  the  height  on  which  they  now 
stand,  the  future  is  to  them  an  abyss,  and  their 
fears  recall  the  words  used  in  “  King  Lear,”  when 
Edgar  endeavors  to  persuade  Gloucester  that  he 
has  fallen  over  the  cliffs  of  Dover,  and  says : 

Ten  masts  at  each  make  not  the  altitude 

Which  thou  hast  perpendicularly  fallen  ; 

Thy  life’s  a  miracle  ! 

And  yet  but  a  little  while  after,  the  old  man  is  re¬ 
lieved  from  his  delusion,  and  finds  that  he  has  not 
fallen  at  all.  So  1  trust  that  when,  instead  of  the 
factitious  and  adventitious  aid  on  which  we  have 
too  long  taught  the  Irish  Establishment  to  lean,  it 
should  come  to  place  its  trust  in  its  own  resources, 
in  its  own  great  mission,  in  all  that  it  can  draw 
from  the  energy  of  its  ministers  and  its  members, 
and  the  high  hopes  and  promises  of  the  gospel 
that  it  teaches,  it  will  find  that  it  has  entered  upon 
a  new  era  of  existence — an  era  bright  with  hope 
and  potent  for  good.  At  any  rate,  I  think  the  day 
has  certainly  come  when  an  end  is  to  be  put  to  that 
union,  not  between  the  church  and  religious  asso¬ 
ciation,  but  between  the  Establishment  and  the 
State,  which  was  commenced  under  circumstances 
little  auspicious,  and  has  endured  to  be  a  source  of 
unhappiness  to  Ireland  and  of  discredit  and  scan¬ 
dal  to  England. 

There  is  more  to  say.  This  measure  is  in  every 
sense  a  great  measure — great  in  its  principles, 

34 


TOs  Oratorical  powers 


great  in  the  multitude  of  its  dry,  technical,  but  in¬ 
teresting  detail,  and  great  as  a  testing  measure ; 
for  it  will  show  for  one  and  all  of  us  of  what  metal 
we  are  made.  Upon  us  all  it  brings  a  great  re¬ 
sponsibility — great  and  foremost  on  those  who 
occupy  this  bench.  We  are  especially  chargeable, 
nay,  deeply  guilty,  if  we  have  either  dishonestly, 
as  some  think,  or  even  prematurely  or  unwisely, 
challenged  so  gigantic  an  issue.  I  am  deeply  con¬ 
vinced  that  when  the  final  consummation  shall 
arrive,  and  when  the  words  are  spoken  that  shall 
give  the  force  of  law  to  the  work  embodied  in  this 
measure — the  work  of  peace  and  justice — those 
words  will  be  echoed  upon  every  shore  where  the 
name  of  Ireland  or  the  name  of  Great  Britain  has 
been  heard,  and  the  answer  to  them  will  come  back 
in  the  approving  verdict  of  civilized  mankind. 

And,  finally,  the  magnificent  peroration 
of  Mr.  Gladstone’s  speech  on  the  great  and 
irrepressible  Eastern  Question,  in  1877: 

Sir,  there  were  other  days  when  England  was 
the  hope  of  freedom.  Wherever  in  this  world  a 
high  aspiration  was  entertained  or  a  noble  blow 
was  struck,  it  was  to  England  that  the  eyes  of  the 
oppressed  were  always  turned — to  this  favorite, 
this  darling  home  of  so  much  privilege  and  so 
much  happiness,  where  the  people  that  had  built 
up  a  noble  edifice  for  themselves,  would,  it  was 
well  known,  be  ready  to  do  what  in  them  lay  to 

35 


William  Bwart  Gladstone 


secure  the  benefit  of  the  same  inestimable  boon  for 
others.  You  talk  to  me  of  the  established  tradition 
and  policy  in  regard  to  Turkey.  I  appeal  to  an 
established  tradition,  older,  wider,  nobler  far— a 
tradition  not  which  disregards  British  interests, 
but  which  teaches  you  to  seek  the  promotion  of 
these  interests  in  obeying  the  dictates  of  honor  and 
justice.  And,  sir,  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  this? 
Are  we  to  dress  up  the  fantastic  ideas  some  people 
entertain  about  this  policy  and  that  policy  in  the 
garb  of  British  interests,  and  then,  with  a  new  and 
base  idolatry,  fall  down  and  worship  them  ?  Or, 
are  we  to  look,  not  at  the  sentiment,  but  at  the 
hard  facts  of  the  case  which  Lord  Derby  told  us 
fifteen  years  ago — viz.  :  that  it  is  the  populations 
of  those  countries  that  will  ultimately  possess 
them — that  will  ultimately  determine  their  abiding 
condition?  It  is  to  this  fact,  this  law  that  we 
should  look.  There  is  now  before  the  world  a 
glorious  prize.  A  portion  of  those  unhappy  people 
are  still  as  yet  making  an  effort  to  retrieve  what 
they  have  lost  so  long,  but  have  not  ceased  to  love 
and  to  desire.  They  have  told  you  that  they  do 
not  seek  alliance  with  Russia  or  with  any  foreign 
power,  but  that  they  seek  to  be  delivered  from  an  in¬ 
tolerable  burden  of  woe  and  shame.  That  burden  of 
woe  and  shame — the  greatest  that  exists  on  God’s 
earth — is  one  that  we  thought  united  Europe  was 
about  to  remove,  but  to  removing  which,  for  the 
present,  you  seem  to  have  no  efficacious  means  of 
offering  even  the  smallest  practical  contribution. 

36 


IKte  Oratorical  powers 


But,  sir,  the  removal  of  that  load  of  woe  and 
shame  is  a  great  and  noble  prize.  It  is  a  prize 
worth  competing  for.  It  is  not  yet  too  late  to  try 
to  win  it.  I  believe  there  are  men  in  the  Cabinet 
who  would  try  to  win  it  if  they  were  free  to  act  on 
their  own  beliefs  and  aspirations.  It  is  not  yet  too 
late,  I  say,  to  become  competitors  for  that  prize, 
but  be  assured  that,  whether  you  mean  to  claim 
for  yourselves  even  a  single  leaf  in  that  immortal 
chaplet  of  renown  which  will  be  the  reward  of 
true  labor  in  that  cause,  or  whether  you  turn  your 
backs  upon  that  cause  and  upon  your  ov/n  duty, 
I  believe  for  one  that  the  knell  of  Turkish  tyranny 
in  these  provinces  has  sounded.  So  far  as  human 
eye  can  judge,  it  is  about  to  be  destroyed.  The 
destruction  may  not  come  in  the  way  or  by  the 
means  that  we  should  choose;  but,  come  this  boon 
from  what  hands  it  may,  it  will  be  a  noble  boon, 
and  as  a  noble  boon  will  be  gladly  accepted  by 
Christendom  and  the  world.  However,  the  time 
is  short ;  the  sands  of  the  hour-glass  are  running 
out.  The  longer  you  delay,  the  less  in  all  likeli¬ 
hood  you  will  be  able  to  save  from  the  wreck  of 
the  integrity  and  independence  of  the  Turkish  Em¬ 
pire.  If  Russia  should  fail,  her  failure  would  be  a 
disaster  to  mankind,  and  the  condition  of  the 
suffering  races,  for  whom  we  are  supposed  to  have 
labored,  will  be  worse  than  it  was  before.  If  she 
succeeds,  and  if  her  conduct  be  honorable,  nay, 
even  if  it  be  but  tolerably  prudent,  the  performance 
of  the  work  she  has  in  hand  will,  notwithstanding 

37 


TKlUlliam  JEwart  ©lafcstone 


all  your  jealousies  and  all  your  reproaches,  secure 
for  her  an  undying  fame.  When  that  work  shall 
be  accomplished,  though  it  be  not  in  the  way  and 
by  the  means  I  would  have  chosen,  as  an  English¬ 
man  I  shall  hide  my  head,  but  as  a  man  I  shall 
rejoice.  Nevertheless,  to  my  latest  day  I  will  ex¬ 
claim,  Would  to  God  that  in  this  crisis  the  voice 
of  the  nation  had  been  suffered  to  prevail !  would 
to  God  that  in  this  holy  deed,  England  had  not 
been  refused  her  share ! 


We  may  well  leave  Gladstone  as  an 
orator,  pleading  as  he  has  always  pleaded 
for  right  against  wrong,  justice  against 
injustice,  and  truth  against  falsehood,  for¬ 
getting  not  that  memorable  seventeenth 
day  of  February,  1893,  when  in  his  eighty- 
fourth  year,  the  Grand  Old  Man  stood  on 
his  feet  four  consecutive  hours  and  poured 
out  appeals,  at  times  fearful  and  touching, 
for  the  autonomy  and  political  self-govern¬ 
ment  of  downtrodden  Ireland. 

Our  last  glance  at  Mr.  Gladstone  will 
be  directed  to  him  as  a  man,  possessed  of 
those  qualities  which  fit  him 
so  pre-eminently  to  stand 
out  in  grand  proportions  as  student  and 
statesman,  financier  and  orator,  and  which 

38 


Ba  a  flHan 


Bs  a  Allan 


have  led  one  of  the  most  conservative 
writers  of  our  day  to  declare  respecting 
him  what  another  had  said  of  Edmund 
Burke:  “He  brought  to  politics  a  horror 
of  crime,  a  deep  humanity,  a  keen  sensi¬ 
bility,  a  singular  vivacity,  and  sincerity  of 
conscience.”  His  heart  is  as  sincere  as 
his  talents  are  great  and  his  achievements 
magnificent.  He  has  a  manly  body  and  a 
manly  mind,  but  above  this,  a  manly  soul 
with  high  transcendent  virtues  which  are 
at  once  to  him  garment  of  beauty  and 
girdle  of  strength.  Better  than  all  else — 
more  than  wit  or  eloquence,  position  or 
titles,  his  character  has  dignity,  purity, 
power.  Always  and  everywere  it  is  rec¬ 
ognized  and  felt  as  an  invisible  yet  irre¬ 
sistible  power.  It  possesses  that  which  is 
more  beautiful  than  color  or  contour  as 
seen  in  the  tint  of  flowers  or  the  winding 
of  the  seashore.  Mr.  Gladstone  is  a  man 
of  character.  His  is  that  devotion  to  right 
in  a  large  way  and  on  a  generous  scale 
which  abides  in  the  world’s  memory  and 
love.  His  whole  theory  of  life  can  be 
summed  up  in  his  own  words:  “Precept 

39 


TOUiam  Bwart  (BlaDstone 


freezes  while  example  warms.  Precept 
addresses  us,  example  lays  hold  on  us. 
Precept  is  a  marble  statue,  example  glows 
with  life — a  thing  of  flesh  and  blood.” 

It  is  said  on  reliable  authority  that 

since  the  year  1842  Mr.  Gladstone  when 

in  good  health  and  at  home 
•OMS  Jfaitb  ,  ,  . 

has  never  been  known  to 

intermit  one  Sunday  morning  service  at 
half-past  eight  o’clock  at  his  church,  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  from  Hawarden  Castle  ; 
commenting  on  which  fact,  his  daughter 
has  recently  written  :  “  This  is  only  carry¬ 
ing  out  a  principle  which  was  exemplified 
in  his  earlier  days  by  the  daily  prayers 
which  he  had  with  his  two  servants  when, 
a  young  man,  he  lodged  in  the  Albany,  in 
London.”  It  is  the  man  Gladstone  who, 
when  on  one  occasion  the  Queen  said  to 
him,  “Sir,  remember  I  am  the  Queen  of 
England,”  replied  with  dignity  and  firm¬ 
ness,  “Madame,  remember  who  I  am.  1 
am  the  people  of  England.”  It  was  the 
man  of  God,  Gladstone,  who  yielding  to 
Christianity  not  simply  intellectual  assent 

but  spiritual  consent,  could  speak  such 

40 


Mis  Jfattb 


words  as  these  at  the  opening  of  the  Col¬ 
legiate  Institute  at  Liverpool:  “Take  a 
human  being  and  make  an  accomplished 
man  in  natural  philosophy,  in  mathemat¬ 
ics,  as  a  merchant,  as  a  lawyer,  or  a  phy¬ 
sician,  and  conceal  from  him  a  knowledge 
and  power  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  he 
would  go  forth  into  the  world  poor  and 
miserable  and  blind  and  naked.”  In  a 
letter  received  from  his  own  hand  by  the 
present  speaker  last  year,  Mr.  Gladstone 
thus  briefly  expresses  himself  in  response 
to  an  inquiry  relating  to  his  Christian  be¬ 
lief  :  “All  I  think,  all  I  hope,  all  I  write, 
all  I  live  for,  is  based  upon  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  central  joy  of  my  poor, 
wayward  life.”  Could  Christian  faith  be 
declared  with  more  positiveness,  compre¬ 
hension,  and  brevity?  “If  asked,”  said 
he  on  another  occasion,  “what  is  the 
remedy  for  the  deepest  sorrows  of  the 
human  heart — what  a  man  should  chiefly 
look  to  in  his  progress  through  life  as  the 
power  that  is  to  sustain  him  under  trials 
and  enable  him  manfully  to  confront  his 
afflictions,  I  must  point  him  to  something 

4i 


William  JEwart  (BlaDstone 


which  in  a  well-known  hymn  is  called 
‘  The  old,  old  story/  told  of  in  an  old,  old 
book,  and  taught  with  an  old,  old  teach¬ 
ing  which  is  the  greatest  and  best  gift 
ever  given  to  mankind.” 

These  few  words  from  the  great  pre¬ 
mier  reveal  the  man  in  the  simplicity  of  a 
faith  that  looks  up  to  God,  in  the  ardor  of 
hope  that  is  centered  in  God,  and  in  the 
constancy  of  a  love  that  delights  to  do 
with  fidelity  the  will  of  God.  Most  force¬ 
fully  has  Russell,  in  his  captivating  biog¬ 
raphy  of  our  subject,  analyzed  his  religious 
character  thus  : 

The  religion  in  which  Mr.  Gladstone  lives  and 
moves  and  has  his  being  is  an  intensely  vivid  and 
energetic  principle — passionate  in  its  emotional  side, 
definite  in  its  theory,  imperious  in  its  demands — in 
the  practical,  visible,  complex,  and  variegated  web 
of  his  long  and  chequered  life.  In  his  own  personal 
habits,  known  to  all  men  of  systematic  devotion ; 
in  his  rigorous  reservation  of  the  Sunday  for 
sacred  uses;  in  his  written  and  spoken  utterances; 
in  his  favorite  studies ;  in  his  administration  of 
public  affairs ;  in  the  ground  on  which  he  has 
based  his  opposition  to  policies  of  which  he  has 
disapproved — he  has  steadily  and  constantly  as¬ 
serted  for  the  claims  of  religion  a  permanent  place 

42 


Summing  THp 


in  public  consideration,  and  has  reproved  the  State 
socialism  which  thinks,  or  affects  to  think,  that 
Christianity  as  a  spring  of  human  action  is  an 
exhausted  force. 


Mr.  Gladstone  represents  and  incar¬ 
nates  the  essential  elements  of  genuine 
worth.  To  come  in  contact 

...  ,  .  .  ,  ,  ,  ,,  .  Summing  tUp 

with  him  is  to  behold  hero¬ 
ism,  majesty,  purity,  sympathy  inter- 
blended  in  character  and  exhibited  in  life, 
forming  an  image  of  beautiful  proportions 
and  after  a  heavenly  original.  The  man 
matches  creed  with  deed.  He  translates 
high  thought  into  daily  life.  With  him 
truth  lived  is  more  than  truth  taught.  A 
Christian  hero  through  and  through,  Wil¬ 
liam  Ewart  Gladstone  has  proved  himself 
to  be  the  noblest  premier  that  has  ever 
blessed  great  England’s  history.  Grand 
Old  Man, 


No  fitting  mete  wand  hath  to-day 
For  measuring  spirits  of  thy  stature — 
Only  the  future  can  reach  up  to  lay 
The  laurel  on  thy  lofty  nature — 

Bard,  who,  with  some  diviner  art 
Has  touched  the  bard’s  true  lyre,  the  na¬ 
tion’s  heart. 

43 


JOHN  KNOX 


t Address  in  celebration  of  the  three  hundred  and 
ninetieth  anniversary  of  Knox’s  birthday , 
delivered  in  the  First  "Baptist  Church, 

‘ Denver ,  November,  189 5 


II 


IT  means  much  that  so  judicious  and  dis¬ 
interested  a  writer  as  Froude,  after 
designating  John  Knox  as  the 

“  one  supremely  great  man  u^on°Mim 
that  Scotland  possessed — the 
one  man  without  whom  Scotland,  as  the 
modern  world  has  known  it,  would  have 
no  existence, ”  should  indulge  in  a  eulogy 
upon  him  so  unreserved  as  this  : 


His  was  the  voice  that  taught  the  peasant  of  the 
Lothians  that  he  was  a  free  man,  the  equal  in  the 
sight  of  God  with  the  proudest  peer  or  prelate 
that  had  trampled  on  his  forefathers.  He  was  the 
one  antagonist  that  Mary  Stuart  could  not  soften 
nor  Maitland  deceive.  He  it  was  that  raised  the 
poor  commons  of  his  country  into  a  stern  and 
rugged  people,  who  might  be  hard,  narrow,  super¬ 
stitious,  and  fanatical,  but  who,  nevertheless, 
were  men  whom  neither  king,  noble,  nor  priest 
could  force  again  to  submit  to  tyranny. 


It  means  much  too,  when  so  calm  and 
critical  a  writer  as  Carlyle  appears  car- 

47 


3obn  Umoi 


ried  away,  as  by  some  irresistible  tidal 
wave,  with  the  mighty  effects  of  the  Ref¬ 
ormation  by  Knox,  denominating  it  “the 
one  epoch  in  all  the  history  of  Scotland  ; 
an  internal  fire  under  the  ribs  of  outward 
material  death  ;  the  noblest  of  causes, 
kindling  itself  like  a  beacon  set  on  high  ; 
high  as  heaven  yet  all  from  earth,  where¬ 
by  the  meanest  man  becomes  not  only  a 
citizen,  but  a  member  of  Christ’s  visible 
church.” 

Who  is  this  man  that  is  enabled,  under 
God’s  guiding  eye  and  protecting  arm,  to 
accomplish  so  much  for  his  native  land, 
for  the  continent  of  Europe,  for  the  Chris¬ 
tian  church  ?  Who  is  this  man,  the  utter¬ 
ance  of  whose  sentiments  is  felt  even  to 
this  far-off  age  of  ours,  gathering  force 
and  momentum  with  all  the  years,  pro¬ 
ducing  in  turn  English  Non-Conforming 
churches,  Scotch  Covenanters,  and,  in 
part,  the  principles  upon  which  our  own 
American  nation  has  been  reared  so  grad¬ 
ually,  grandly,  and  gloriously  ?  Who  is 
this  man,  without  whose  great  brain,  true 

heart,  and  imperishable  deeds  Scotland 

48 


ftlte  IHumble  parentage 


might  have  been  lost  to  Protestantism  in 
the  most  critical  period  of  its  eventful  his¬ 
tory,  and  in  reference  to  whom  a  noted 
author  has  so  forcefully  declared  the  his¬ 
tory  of  Scotland  as  the  history  of  the 
Reformation,  and  the  history  of  the  Ref¬ 
ormation  as  the  biography  of  one  man — 
John  Knox  ?  We  cannot  fail  to  be  inter¬ 
ested  in  and  instructed  by  the  heroic 
career  of  this  Savonarola  of  Scotland — 
this  John  the  Baptist  of  the  sixteenth  cen¬ 
tury. 

Like  many  of  the  great  men  of  history 
that  have  stamped  their  generation  with 
their  personal  influence,  Knox  was  born 
of  humble  parents,  who  pos¬ 
sessed  neither  rank  nor  rep- 
utation,  fortune  nor  favor ; 
and,  like  the  most  gifted  of  Greek  bards, 
this  most  distinguished  of  Scotch  Re¬ 
formers  had  a  birthplace  unknown  to  day 
to  the  world,  some  historians  contending 
that  it  was  at  Haddington  that  our  subject 
first  saw  the  light  in  1 505,  It  is  interesting 
to  note  how  often  from  inconspicuous  line¬ 
age  and  circumstances  there  arises  con- 
d  49 


5obn  Iknoi 


spicuous  genius — Gregory  VII.,  the  son 
of  a  carpenter;  Sextus  V.,  a  shepherd; 
Adrian  VI.,  a  bargeman  ;  Copernicus,  the 
son  of  a  baker  ;  and  Kepler,  the  son  of  a 
publican — each  adding  force  to  the  trite 
but  true  lines, 

Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise ; 

Act  well  your  part — there  all  the  honor  lies. 

The  century  whose  opening  days  gave 
birth  to  Knox  may  be  accounted  one  of 
the  richest  in  all  the  annals 

H  Century UB  ^luman  race*  A  few 

weeks  hence  the  world  will 

be  celebrating  the  birthday  of  Robert 
Burns,  and  orators  will  tell  with  fervid 
eloquence  of  how,  around  that  proud  year 
1 759,  when  the  peasant  poet  was  born, 
the  great  of  earth  did  cluster  in  the  glory 
of  their  personality  and  in  the  majesty  of 
their  achievements — Watt  working  with 
steam,  and  Hargreaves  with  the  spinning- 
jenny,  and  Wedgewood  with  household 
wares  ;  Gray  with  his  elegy,  and  John¬ 
son  with  his  dictionary  ;  Edmund  Burke 
with  his  essay  on  the  sublime  and  beau- 

50 


U  fiQarvelous  Century 


tiful  ;  Garrick  the  first  of  actors  and  Rey¬ 
nolds  the  first  of  painters  ;  with  Gibbon 
and  Hume  and  Robertson  as  historians. 
A  marvelous  century  indeed,  laden  with 
the  fruit  of  exalted  thought  and  labor. 
But  a  richer  century  in  genius  was  that  of 
Knox  than  was  that  of  Burns.  In  its  broad 
compass  this  sixteenth  century  encircled 
Kepler  and  Copernicus,  astronomers ; 
Elizabeth  and  Mary,  queens ;  Wolsey, 
cardinal  ;  Gustavus  Adolphus,  soldier  ; 
Shakespeare,  Spenser,  and  Tasso,  poets  ; 
Erasmus  and  Reuchlin,  scholars  ;  Angelo, 
Raphael,  and  Da  Vinci,  artists ;  Calvin 
and  Luther,  Zwingli  and  Melancthon, 
Reformers,  with  others  high  in  rank  in 
the  realm  of  art  and  science,  of  philoso¬ 
phy  and  literature,  of  war  and  states¬ 
manship — a  century  blossoming  with  ge¬ 
nius,  even  as  Southern  gardens  blossom 
with  flowers. 

Well  was  it  that  in  so  rich  a  literary 
period  Knox’s  parents  put  him  in  his  youth 
at  the  Haddington  school,  whence,  after 
his  acquisition  of  the  principles  of  the 
Latin  grammar,  he  entered  at  the  age  of 

5i 


John  Iknoi 


sixteen  years  the  University  of  Glasgow, 
where  he  prosecuted  with  marked  vigor 
and  success  the  studies  assigned  to  him — 
most  probably  the  Aristotelian  philosophy, 
scholastic  theology,  and  canon  law  studies 
which  fitted  him  afterward  to  write  on 
theology,  discuss  with  heretics,  confront 
kings  and  queens,  and  in  a  multitude  of 
ways  bear  a  heroic  part  for  God  and  hu¬ 
manity. 

And  the  condition  of  Scotland,  both 
politically  and  religiously,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  how  favorable  in 

^of  scotian&n  itself  for  the  awakening  of 
Knox’s  peculiar  genius,  the 

calling  out  of  his  special  gifts,  and  the 
accomplishment  of  his  reforming  deeds  1 
Look  first  at  its  political  condition.  Car¬ 
lyle  describes  this  country  as  “a  poor, 
barren  country,  full  of  continual  broils, 
dissensions,  and  massacrings ;  a  people 
in  the  last  stage  of  rudeness  and  destitu¬ 
tion,  a  little  better,  perhaps,  than  Ireland 
to-day;  a  country  as  yet  without  a  soul, 
nothing  developed  in  it  but  what  was 
rude,  external,  semi-animal/’  A  sad  pic- 

52 


abe  Condition  of  Scotland 


ture  this,  by  the  sage  of  Chelsea,  who 
loved  so  tenderly  his  own  native  land  ; 
it  would  seem  that  patriotism  had  well- 
nigh  vanished  from  the  heart  and  hearth¬ 
stones  of  this  people,  each  inhabitant 
more  a  clansman  than  a  Scotchman,  and 
all  the  nation  in  an  indescribably  sad  and 
chaotic  condition.  Truly,  if  any  people 
ever  needed  God’s  pure  and  purifying 
leaven  to  permeate  and  save  its  hetero¬ 
geneous  mass,  that  nation  was  Scotland  at 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
And  Scotland  religiously,  or  rather  irre¬ 
ligiously,  was  worse  even,  if  possible,  than 
Scotland  politically.  No  truer,  more  im¬ 
pressive  picture  of  its  moral  state  has 
been  furnished  than  that  given  by  the  au¬ 
thor  of  “Heretics  of  Yesterday,”  when 
he  writes : 

Nowhere,  outside  of  Italy,  was  the  church  so 
corrupt,  or  so  shameless  in  its  corruption.  It  held 
in  its  grasp  the  largest  share  of  the  wealth  of  the 
kingdom.  The  lives  of  its  prelates  and  priests 
were  scandalous  to  a  degree  that  no  language  that 
is  now  permissible  would  enable  us  to  express. 
Severe  as  the  language  of  Knox  was  in  the  pulpit, 
and  broad  even  almost  to  grossness  as  it  now  reads 

53 


3obn  IFmoi 


upon  the  pages  of  history,  it  is  more  than  borne 
out  in  the  stinging  lines  of  that  Chaucer  of  Scot¬ 
land,  Sir  David  Lindsay,  of  the  mount  of  St. 
Michael.  Indeed,  Chaucer’s  most  realistic  pic¬ 
tures  of  the  fourteenth  century  are  tame  when 
compared  with  Sir  David’s  description  of  the  Scot¬ 
tish  clergy  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Beatons, 
in  licentiousness  of  life,  in  insatiableness  of  avarice, 
and  in  the  cruelty  of  their  judicial  murders,  main¬ 
tained  the  traditions  of  a  system  made  famous  by 
John  XXIII.  and  Alexander  VI.  The  churches 
had  ceased  to  be  the  resorts  of  men  in  need  of 
spiritual  grace  or  hungering  for  the  bread  of  life, 
and  had  become  mere  marts  for  trafficking  in  in¬ 
dulgences,  relics,  anathemas,  and  the  common 
clergy  were  themselves  densely  ignorant  of  the 
meaning  of  the  prayers  which  they  were  paid  to 
mumble. 

And  all  this  sanctioned  by  Queen  Mary 
of  Guise  and  David  Beaton,  archbishop  of 
St.  Andrew’s  and  cardinal  of  the  church, 
— no,  not  of  the  church,  but  of  the  so- 
called,  because  so  degenerated,  church  of 
God.  Think  of  it,  Beaton  an  archbishop, 
sanctioned  and  supported  by  the  church, 
yet  he  prevailing,  in  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
upon  James  V.  to  violate  his  promise  to 
Henry  VIII.  at  Newcastle ;  and  worse 

54 


Gbe  Condition  of  Scotland 


still,  putting  to  death  those  whom  he  re¬ 
garded  heretics — pure  Protestant  heroes — 
with  as  little  concern  of  conscience  as  the 
infamous  Nero  murdered  his  own  mother 
and  wrapped  in  flames  that  gave  him  joy 
thousands  of  Roman  saints !  Oh,  the 
dark,  deep  crimes  that  have  drawn  their 
trail  of  blood  over  the  annals  of  history,  and 
that  too,  in  the  name  of  the  gentle,  un¬ 
resisting,  patient  Christ  !  God  save  the 
church  from  ever  becoming  again  the  mere 
marble  effigy  of  an  entombed  excellence  ! 
No  wonder  the  people  of  Scotland — politi¬ 
cal  chaos  on  one  hand  and  moral  corrup¬ 
tion  on  the  other — were  ready  for  marked 
and  growing  revolution  and  reformation. 
Things  must  change  or  the  nation  sink. 
The  foul,  base  murders  by  the  papacy  of 
George  Wishart,  the  godly  preacher  of 
righteousness,  and  of  Patrick  Hamilton, 
the  gifted  nobleman,  aroused  the  whole 
nation  to  the  necessity  of  change.  Forma¬ 
tion  had  changed  to  deformation  ;  now  de¬ 
formation  must  change  to  reformation. 

And  how  gloriously  God  has  been  pre¬ 
paring  the  land  for  the  coming  Reforma- 

55 


3obn  Iftnoi 


tion  !  First,  Scotland  received  from  Eng¬ 
land  some  of  Wycliffe’s  evangelical  truths, 
which  Lollards,  full  of  sym- 

TCrtovmatlon  Pathy  with  them>  had  scat' 
tered  near  and  far ;  then 

Scottish  students  visited  Wittenberg, 
and  learned  of  Luther  and  Melancthon, 
whose  words,  “  Half-battles,”  were  arous¬ 
ing  all  Europe  ;  then  there  was  the  ele¬ 
vation  of  the  queen  dowager  to  the  Scot¬ 
tish  and  of  Mary  to  the  English  throne — 
events  which  God  in  his  power  caused 
eventually  to  work  for  the  Reformation  ; 
then  there  was  the  diffusion  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  the  work  of  English  and  German 
Reformers,  which  are  everywhere  the 
center  of  the  world’s  illumination  ;  then, 
there  was  the  sympathy  of  such  noblemen 
as  William,  earl  of  Glencairn,  and  Wil¬ 
liam,  earl  of  Errol,  and  William,  lord  of 
Ruthven,  and  of  such  scholars  as  Sir 
David  Lindsay,  and  Henry  Balnaves,  and 
George  Buchanan,  Knox’s  contemporary 
at  Glasgow  ;  then  there  were  the  plays 
cvf  the  pantomimes  of  satirists,  in  which 
the  vices  of  the  papal  clergy  and  the  suf- 

56 


Ittte  J£ntt£  Hlpon  bie  Work 


ferings  of  the  Protestants  were  held  up  in 
bold,  bald  relief ;  then  there  was  the 
martyrdom  of  Wishart  and  Hamilton, 
whose  blood  truly  became  the  seed  of  the 
church, 

Who  lived  unknown  till  persecution 
Dragged  them  into  fame,  and  chased  them 
Up  to  heaven  ;  whose  blood  was  shed 
In  confirmation  of  the  noblest  claim — 

Our  claim  to  feed  upon  the  immortal  truth, 
To  soar,  and  to  anticipate  the  skies. 

All  this  was  just  one  year  previous  to 
the  Diet  of  Spires, — when  the  name  Prot¬ 
estant  was  born, — two  years 
from  the  production  of  the  ®^oruf{pon 
Augsburg  Confession,  and 
eight  years  after  Luther  had  consigned  to 
flames  at  Wittenberg  the  papal  bulls ; 
after  which  there  was  the  opening  up  of 
the  castle  of  St.  Andrew’s  as  “a  kind  of 
sanctuary  for  all  who  were  seeking  relief 
or  refuge  from  the  oppression  of  rulers  in 
Church  and  State,”  and  the  flocking  to  it 
of  many  noble  and  true  spirits. 

Into  this  St.  Andrew’s  Castle  Knox  was 
one  of  the  first  to  enter.  He  was  now  a 

57 


3obn  Iknoi 


man  of  forty-two  years,  mature  in  wisdom 
and  ripening  in  grace.  He  had  had  fine 
advantages.  At  Glasgow  University  he 
had  been  under  the  careful  instruction  of 
John  Major,  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  prin¬ 
cipal  of  the  university,  and  professor  of 
divinity — a  man  who,  abreast  of  his  times, 
could  project  such  truths  as  this  in  a  period 
like  that:  “A  free  people  first  gives 
strength  to  a  king,  and  a  king  depends  for 
power  upon  a  free  people  ”  ;  and,  “  A 
people  can  discard  or  depose  a  king  and 
his  children  for  misconduct,  just  as  they 
appoint  him  at  first.”  Such  sentiments 
as  these  taught  by  Major  in  the  class¬ 
room,  were  reiterated  by  Knox  with  such 
mighty  force,  and  so  widely  diffused  in 
the  nation,  that  “  in  due  season  the  divine 
right  of  the  Stuarts  was  exploded,  and 
the  beginning  of  a  new  order  of  things  in¬ 
troduced.”  In  the  midst  of  a  monarchical 
government  such  expositions  of  popular 
attention  and  power  could  not  fail  to  at¬ 
tract  attention  and  demand  consideration. 

It  was  in  this  St.  Andrew’s  Castle  that 
Knox  got  his  first  strong,  irresistible  call 

58 


IHis  Bntrp  upon  bis  TMovk 

to  the  public  ministry  of  the  word.  He 
had  already  left  the  Romish  priesthood, 
with  which  he  was  connected  in  1543, 
and,  under  the  influence  of  Thomas  Guil- 
lame  and  George  Wishart  and  God’s 
Spirit,  received  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 
By  degrees  he  found  himself  greatly  in¬ 
terested  in  giving  public  expositions  of  the 
Scriptures  and  of  the  catechism.  These 
public  lectures  received  profound  atten¬ 
tion.  To  them  flocked  the  most  thought¬ 
ful  minds  in  the  castle.  So  deep  and  wide 
an  impression  was  made  by  them  that 
there  came  to  Knox,  unsought,  both  a 
divine  and  human  call  to  the  ministry, 
from  which  he  could  now  no  more  turn 
away  than  could  the  rude  Gothic  hordes 
of  the  North  turn  away  from  Italy  after 
once  their  eyes  had  rested  on  its  sunny 
slopes.  The  scene  in  the  castle  was 
unique,  interesting,  thrilling.  One  morn¬ 
ing  John  Rough,  the  regular  preacher  at 
the  castle,  preached  a  sermon  on  “  Call 
to  the  Ministry.”  Turning  at  the  close 
of  his  discourse  to  Knox,  who  was  seated 
near  him,  he  addressed  these  words  :  “  Be 

59 


Tobn  Iknox 


not  offended  if  I  speak  to  you  personally. 
In  the  name  of  God  and  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  and  in  the  names  of  those  present, 
who  speak  to  you  by  my  mouth,  I  charge 
you  that  you  refuse  not  this  holy  voca¬ 
tion  ;  but  that,  as  you  regard  the  glory  of 
God,  the  increase  of  his  kingdom,  the 
edification  of  your  brethren,  you  take 
upon  you  the  public  office  and  charge  of 
preaching  even  as  you  look  to  God’s  dis¬ 
pleasure,  and  desire  that  he  multiply  his 
graces  with  you.”  Then,  looking  over 
the  congregation,  Rough  put  this  ques¬ 
tion,  “  Was  not  this  your  charge  to  me  ?  ” 
Unitedly  their  voices  responded,  “  It  was, 
and  we  approve  it.” 

What  was  the  effect  of  all  this  upon 
Knox  ?  We  are  reminded,  as  we  look 
upon  him  in  these  circumstances,  of  two 
other  great  heroes  of  history  in  similar 
conditions,  the  one  exclaiming,  ‘  Ah,  Lord 
God,  behold  !  I  cannot  speak,  for  I  am  a 
child  !  ”  the  other,  “  Who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things  ?  ”  Picturesquely  has  a  bi¬ 
ographer  set  before  us  Knox’s  emotions 
at  this  time  : 


60 


IHte  Bntrs  upon  bis  ‘lHHorft 


The  combined  suddenness  and  solemnity  of  the 
appeal  completely  unmanned  him.  He  burst  into 
tears,  and  hastened  to  his  closet,  where  we  may 
well  believe  he  sought  light  from  God ;  and  the 
result  was  that  he  was  led  to  take  up  that  ministry 
which  he  laid  down  only  with  his  life.  Not  from 
the  impulse  of  caprice,  nor  because  he  desired  the 
position  of  a  preacher,  but  because  he  could  not 
otherwise  meet  the  responsibility  which  God  had 
laid  upon  him,  did  he  enter  on  that  high  and  hon¬ 
orable  vocation.  He  was  to  do  a  work  for  his 
countrymen  not  unlike  that  which  Moses  was  to 
do  for  his  kinsmen  ;  and  so,  like  Moses,  he  was 
called  to  it  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers,  and 
entered  upon  it  with  a  conviction  that  God  had 
given  him  his  commission  and  he  dared  not  dis¬ 
obey. 

No  wonder  that,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus 
converted  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  and 
straightway  preaching  in  the  synagogue 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  Knox  now  with¬ 
out  delay  went  forth  to  engage  in  a  con¬ 
troversy  with  the  papist  Dean  Armand,  to 
deliver  sermons  exploding  papal  doctrine 
respecting  justification,  and  to  inculcate 
God’s  word  largely  untainted  by  human 
tradition  ;  and  all  this  so  conscientiously 

and  vigorously  that  one  present  at  one 

61 


3obn  Umoi 


of  his  discourses  significantly  cried  out : 
“Others  lopped  off  the  branches  of  pa¬ 
pistry,  but  Knox  strikes  at  the  roots  to 
destroy  the  whole  !  ”  He  was  not  a  man  to 
mince  words,  wink  at  error,  court  favor, 
seek  popularity.  Having  as  a  possession 
a  good  God,  a  good  conscience,  and  a 
good  cause,  this  preacher  of  truth  and 
righteousness  went  forth  in  courage,  vic¬ 
torious  for  Jehovah  and  Scotland. 

But  Knox’s  path  of  duty  was  no  prim¬ 
rose  way.  God  had  raised  him  up  for 
great  deeds,  and  so  must  re- 

^re©uffedngan&  flne  anh  Pur^Y  him  in  the 
fire  of  great  suffering.  Fol¬ 
lowing  the  death  of  Henry  VIII.,  in  Eng¬ 
land,  in  1547,  and  in  the  same  year  that 
of  Francis  I.,  of  France,  who  was  suc¬ 
ceeded  by  Henry  II.,  St.  Andrew’s  Castle, 
where  Knox  had  done  such  noble  work 
for  truth,  was  besieged  by  a  French  fleet, 
whose  attack  resulted  in  its  surrender. 
The  vanquished  were  carried  away  in  ves¬ 
sels,  some  to  Cherbourg,  others  to  St. 
Michael’s  Mount ;  Knox  himself,  because 

a  prominent  Protestant  leader,  being 

62 


©teat  BeeDs  anD  Suffering 


doomed  to  be  a  slave  in  the  galleys. 
What  that  means  may  be  inferred  from  a 
description  given  us  by  a  well-known 
author : 

The  life  of  a  galley  slave  was  peculiarly  calcu¬ 
lated  to  crush  the  very  spirit  out  of  a  man.  As  a 
punishment  it  was  brutal  and  imbruting — the  men 
chained  together  and  to  their  oars,  with  insuffi¬ 
cient  room  for  any  muscular  action,  sometimes 
under  a  stifling  deck  ;  compelled  oftentimes  to  tug 
at  the  oars  without  cessation  for  twenty-four  hours 
together ;  their  very  food  put  into  their  mouths  by 
their  masters ;  the  slightest  relaxation  of  effort 
visited  by  stinging  lashes  ;  if  one  sank  exhausted 
he  was  speedily  thrown  overboard,  and  another 
chained  in  his  place ;  all  this  tending  first  to  em¬ 
bitter,  then  dehumanize  and  make  ferocious,  and 
finally  stupefy. 

Is  it  strange  that  Knox  was  stricken 
with  fever,  and  became  painfully  emaci¬ 
ated  ?  How  pathetically  does  he  speak 
of  his  bitter  experiences  in  these  circum¬ 
stances  of  woe:  “In  this  town  and 
church,,,  writes  he  in  relation  to  St.  An¬ 
drew’s,  “  began  God  first  to  call  me  to 
the  dignity  of  a  preacher,  from  the  which 
I  was  reft  by  the  tyranny  of  France,  by 

63 


3obn  Iknox 


procurements  of  bishops,  as  ye  all  well 
know.  How  long  I  continued  a  prisoner, 
what  torments  I  endured  in  the  galleys, 
and  what  were  the  sobs  of  my  heart,  is 
now  no  time  to  consider.”  Oh,  how  true 
it  is  that  God’s  servants  must  suffer  from 
God’s  enemies  for  God’s  truth — Daniel  in 
a  den  and  the  Hebrew  children  in  flames 
of  persecution  ;  Stephen  dying  from  the 
blows  of  an  infuriated  mob,  and  Paul 
chained  in  a  Roman  cell,  and  martyred  in 
a  Roman  arena  ;  Peter  ascending  to  glory 
from  a  tree  of  crucifixion,  and  John  an 
exile  on  Patmos ;  Cranmer  and  Bradford 
expiring  in  flames,  and  Hooper  on  the 
scaffold  ;  Tauler  cast  into  Strasburg  Ca¬ 
thedral,  and  Latimer  in  the  London 
Tower;  Huguenots  persecuted  in  the  hid¬ 
ing-places  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  Wald- 
enses  in  the  fastnesses  of  Piedmont,  and 
so  all  down  the  ages  !  We  suffer  with 
God  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  with 
him. 

But  though  in  chains  and  racked  with 
fever  during  his  confinement,  Knox  uses 
his  pen  to  propagate  truth.  Hear  his 

64 


Great  Deebs  anD  Suffering 


dedication  to  Balnave’s  “Treatise  on  Jus¬ 
tification,  ”  how  Paul-like  in  form  and 
spirit:  “  John  Knox,  the  bound  servant  of 
Jesus  Christ,  unto  his  beloved  brethren 
of  St.  Andrew’s  congregation  and  to  all 
professors  of  Christ’s  true  evangel  ;  grace, 
mercy,  and  peace  from  God  the  Father, 
with  perpetual  consolation  from  the  Holy 
Spirit.”  Are  we  surprised  at  this  calm, 
tranquil  resignation  and  faith  amid  condi¬ 
tions  so  hard  ?  Was  it  not  in  a  dungeon 
that  Savonarola  wrote  his  commentary  on 
Ps.  31,  and  George  Withers  his  “  Medita¬ 
tions,”  and  Sir  Francis  Baker  his  “Jeru¬ 
salem,  my  Happy  Home,”  and  Judson  his 
“Lord’s  Prayer  Paraphrase,”  and  Bun- 
yan  his  marvelous  allegory,  and  Madame 
Guyon  her  song  of  triumph, 

These  prison  walls  cannot  control 

The  flight,  the  freedom  of  my  soul. 

What  a  commentary  each  of  these  cases  is 
on  the  word  of  him  whom  Galilean  winds 
obeyed,  “Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway.” 

And  the  faith  of  Knox  while  in  base  and 

bitter  confinement,  how  unshaken,  both 
e  65 


3obn  1 ftnoi 


in  God  and  in  his  own  future  success!  It 
reminds  us  of  Daniel’s  fortitude  before 
the  king,  and  Paul’s  courage 
jfortttu&e ami<j  the  billows.  “I  dare 

Unal 

be  bold,”  exclaims  he,  “in 
the  verity  of  God’s  promise  that,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  vehemence  of  trouble,  the 
long  continuance  thereof,  the  dispersion  of 
all  men, the  fearlessness,  danger,  dolor, and 
anguish  of  our  hearts,  yet  if  we  call  con¬ 
stantly  to  God,  he  shall  deliver  us  beyond 
expectation  of  men.”  And  this  courage¬ 
ous  faith  was  not  spasmodic,  but  continu¬ 
ous  and  increasing.  One  day,  while  the 
vessel  in  which  he  was  a  galley  slave  lay 
near  St.  Andrew’s,  he  caught  a  glimpse 
of  the  town  spires,  and  with  genuine  en¬ 
thusiasm  breaks  out  triumphantly:  “I 
see  that  steeple  of  that  place  where  God 
first  opened  my  mouth  in  public  to  his 
glory,  and  I  am  fully  persuaded,  however 
weak  I  now  appear,  that  I  shall  not  depart 
this  life  till  my  tongue  shall  glorify  his 
holy  name  in  the  same  place.”  And  this 
triumphant  declaration  was  a  prophecy  of 

what  in  God’s  good  time  came  to  pass. 

66 


ffortttube  in  {Trial 


By  some  means  Knox,  pale  and  emaci¬ 
ated,  was  finally  released  from  the  galleys, 
and  entered  upon  the  most  memorable 
career  of  his  checkered  life.  He  tells  us 
that  he  was  “appointed  preacher  to  Ber¬ 
wick,  then  to  Newcastle,  at  last  called  to 
London,  remaining  there  till  the  death  of 
Edward  VI.”  His  work,  both  at  Berwick 
and  Newcastle,  was  characterized  by  the 
same  fervid  eloquence  and  personal  in¬ 
trepidity  that  we  have  found  marking  him 
in  the  past.  It  is  in  the  latter  place,  and 
when  surrounded  by  strong,  bitter,  eccle¬ 
siastical  foes,  that  he  gives  expression  to 
that  unanswerable  syllogism  on  the  mass, 
which  shows  him  to  be  in  advance  even 
of  Cranmer  on  this  question  :  “All  wor¬ 
shiping,  honoring,  or  serving  invented  by 
the  brain  of  man  in  the  religion  of  God  is 
idolatry ;  the  mass  is  invented  by  the 
brain  of  man,  without  the  command  of 
God  ;  therefore  the  mass  is  idolatry.”  A 
syllogism  whose  major  and  minor  prem¬ 
ises  are  absolutely  invulnerable,  and 
whose  conclusion  is  a  logical  sequence 

from  these  premises. 

67 


3obn  Umoi 


Bloody  Mary  coming  to  the  throne, 
Knox  prudently  departed  to  the  Conti¬ 
nent.  Here,  especially  in  Geneva,  as  in 
England  and  Scotland,  we  find  him  in¬ 
dustrious,  consecrated,  fearless  in  all  his 
work,  now  in  company  with  Calvin  ; 
now,  though  fifty  years  old,  applying 
himself  to  Hebrew  as  though  a  youth ; 
now  aiding  in  the  translation  of  the  Ge¬ 
nevan  Bible  ;  now  helping  to  form  the 
liturgy  of  the  Scottish  Reformed  Church. 

But  this  man  of  God  and  child  of  Scot¬ 
land  was  not  to  spend  all  his  best  days 
away  from  his  native  land  ; 

®*enma«  and  S0-  after  aboUt  twe,Ve 
years  passed  as  an  exile,  he 

returned  to  Scotland.  Mary  of  Guise  is 

regent.  After  a  brief  reign  she  died. 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots  took  her  place — 

Mary,  young,  fair,  fascinating,  but  cruel 

and  cunning.  What  a  woman  she  was  ! 

Beautiful  in  person,  attractive  in  manner,  acute 
in  intellect,  she  might  have  been  an  ornament  to 
the  church  of  God  and  to  all  her  realm ;  but 
brought  up  in  a  French  Court,  her  moral  code, 
neither  high  nor  pure,  educated  to  believe  that  the 

68 


Ifcnoi  anD  Queen  Hilary 


one  supreme  concern  was  to  advance  the  interests 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  sister-in-law  to 
him  whose  name  is  forever  blackened  by  the  St. 
Bartholomew’s  massacre,  she  set  her  heart  on 
either  fascinating  Protestantism  by  the  spell  of 
her  personal  magnetism,  or  crushing  it  by  her 
power — making  the  throne  of  Scotland  a  step¬ 
ping-stone  to  that  of  England,  and  so  bringing 
that  realm  back  again  to  papal  allegiance. 

But  Knox  was  the  wrong  man  for  even 
a  queen  like  Mary  to  confront.  Knox 
and  Mary  were  antipodal  in  creed  and 
purpose — the  one  a  devoted  Protestant  ; 
the  other  an  ardent  Romanist.  For  them 
not  to  clash  was  an  impossibility.  In¬ 
deed,  the  very  week  after  Mary’s  ar¬ 
rival  in  Scotland  she  gave  orders  that  a 
solemn  mass  be  celebrated  in  the  chapel 
of  Holyrood.  By  a  law  passed  by  Par¬ 
liament  in  1560  this  was  unlawful,  but 
what  cared  Mary  for  that  ?  The  mass 
was  celebrated.  The  whole  country  was 
agitated.  Knox  himself  was  aroused.  He 
regarded  the  act  as  an  insult  to  the  nation 
and  blasphemy  against  God.  On  the  fol¬ 
lowing  Sunday,  publicly  and  eloquently, 

he  denounced  the  whole  thing,  without 

69 


Tobn  Iknox 


reservation  or  equivocation.  Mary  was 
indignant.  She  sent  for  the  fearless  in¬ 
novator.  He  readily  responded  to  the 
call.  Lord  James  Stuart  was  present  at 
the  interview.  Mary  charged  Knox  with 
preaching  doctrines  not  allowed  by  his 
superior  in  religion.  Knox  denied  that  he 
had  any  superior  in  religion  save  God 
only.  She  put  to  him  the  question  : 
“  What  is  the  true  church  of  God  ?  ” 
He  answered,  “Search  the  Scriptures 
and  find  out.  ”  She,  overmastered  at 
every  point,  admitted  that  she  could  not 
argue  with  him,  but  declared  that  there 
are  some  of  her  spiritual  advisers  who 
can.  Knox  responded  :  “  I  will  meet  at 
any  time  you  say  the  learnedest  papist 
in  Europe.”  Mary  replied:  “You  may 
get  that  privilege  sooner  than  you 
think.”  He  retorted:  “If  so,  it  will  be 
sooner  than  I  believe  ” ;  and  then  turning 
away,  he  left  the  queen  with  the  words, 
“  Madam,  I  pray  God  that  you  may  be  as 
blessed  in  the  commonwealth  as  Deborah 
was  to  the  nation  of  Israel  !  ” 

This  is  the  first  of  the  six  interviews 

70 


IKnoi  anb  (Stueen  fniar^ 


between  Mary  and  Knox,  but  it  illustrates 
all  the  rest.  At  times,  as  they  confronted 
each  other,  Mary  would  burst  out  into 
tears,  and  Knox  would  stand  motionless 
until  she  recovered  from  her  passion  or 
confusion.  They  could  not  agree.  They 
had  no  common  ground.  Mary  was  for 
“loyalty  to  the  Romish  Church,”  Knox 
for  “  loyalty  to  God  and  his  eternal 
truth.”  His  triumph  over  the  queen 
gave  him  a  national  reputation.  Crowds, 
three  thousand  in  number,  at  times  pressed 
within  the  walls  of  old  St.  Giles  to  hear 
his  burning  words.  He  developed  in 
power,  in  favor  with  God  and  man.  His 
name  and  fame  grew  with  increasing 
greatness  and  glory.  He  held  a  minis¬ 
try  in  Edinburgh  from  1564  to  1570,  dur¬ 
ing  which  period  were  enacted  strange, 
sad  scenes,  concisely  summed  up  thus  by 
a  historian  : 

On  June  19,  1566,  the  birth  of  James  VI.;  on 
February  9,  1567,  the  murder  of  Darnley;  on 
May  15,  1567,  the  marriage  of  Mary  to  Bothwell ; 
on  June  15,  1567,  Mary’s  surrender  to  the  Car- 
berry  Hill  lords;  on  July  24,  1567,  Mary’s  abdi- 

71 


3obn  IKnoi 


cation  of  her  throne,  after  her  imprisonment  at 
Loch  Leven  Castle;  on  May  2,  1568,  Mary’s 
escape  from  confinement;  on  May  13,  1568,  her 
defeat,  with  all  her  forces,  at  Langside ;  and 
finally  her  martyrdom  on  the  Fotheringay  block. 
The  1560  Parliament  Act  is  finally  ratified,  with 
an  added  clause  that  “  no  prince  shall  hereafter 
be  admitted  to  exercise  authority  in  the  kingdom 
without  taking  an  oath  to  maintain  the  Protestant 
religion.” 

Knox,  through  his  personal  devotion  to 
truth  and  God’s  great  might,  which  is 
always  on  the  side  of  truth, 
ibis  Ent>  won  the  victory  for  the 

Reformation,  and  was  hereafter  to  take 
his  place  even  alongside  the  noble  Ger¬ 
man  Reformer,  Martin  Luther.  His  work 
was  now  done.  His  hand  may  now  rest. 
His  eyes  may  now  close.  His  heart  may 
now  cease  to  beat.  On  November  24, 
1572,  the  summons  comes  to  him  from 
the  great  Captain  of  his  salvation  to  lay 
aside  his  sword  of  warfare  for  a  fadeless 
chaplet  of  victory;  which  summons  he 
gladly  obeys,  like  Paul,  reviewing  his 
course  with  joy.  Hear  his  words  just 

before  his  spirit  takes  its  flight  to  enjoy 

72 


1Ht6  Character 


reward  :  “  I  profess  before  God  and  his 
holy  angels  that  I  never  made  merchan¬ 
dise  of  the  sacred  work  of  God  ;  never 
studied  to  please  men  ;  never  indulged 
my  own  private  passions  for  those  of 
others,  but  rejoice  in  the  testimony  of  a 
good  conscience.”  Who  wonders  that  on 
that  solemn  November  day,  as  the  mortal 
remains  of  John  Knox  were  lowered  to 
their  last  resting-place  in  the  old  church¬ 
yard  of  St.  Giles,  the  earl  of  Morton 
should  be  heard  uttering  these  words, 
slowly  and  feelingly:  “Here  lieth  a  man 
who  in  his  life  never  feared  the  face  of 
man ;  who  hath  often  been  threatened 
with  the  dagger,  but  yet  hath  ended  his 
days  in  peace  and  honor.” 

Analyzing,  in  conclusion,  Knox’s  char¬ 
acter,  we  are  impressed  first  of  all,  by  his 
consecrated  activity.  Truly 

.  T  ,  ,  Ibis  Character 

the  zeal  of  Jehovah  con¬ 
sumed  him.  We  find  him  at  times  during 
his  career  preaching  every  Sunday,  and 
three  times  during  the  week.  Once  each 
week  he  would  hold  a  conference  with  his 
elders,  and  once  each  week  a  conference 

73 


3obn  Iknoi 


with  ministers  for  the  study  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures.  Only  one  sermon  did  he  publish, 
but  in  that  one  he  tells  of  the  great  in¬ 
creasing  purpose  that  ran  through  his  life, 
“to  instruct  the  ignorant,  comfort  the  sor¬ 
rowful,  confirm  the  weak,  and  to  rebuke 
the  proud  by  pen  and  living  voice  and 
to  this  high  vocation  he  devoted  his  days 
to  preaching  and  his  nights  to  writing.  It 
was  as  a  preacher,  and  not  as  a  writer, 
that  he  did  his  grandest  work.  Dr.  Tay¬ 
lor  has  well  said  : 

The  pulpit  was  the  throne  of  his  peculiar  and 
pre-eminent  power.  Other  men  might  equal  or 
surpass  him  elsewhere,  but  there  he  was  supreme. 
The  pulpit  was  the  glass  which  focused  all  his 
powers  into  a  point,  and  quickened  their  exercise 
into  a  burning  intensity  which  kindled  everything 
he  touched.  It  brightened  his  intellect,  enlivened 
his  imagination,  clarified  his  judgment,  inflamed 
his  courage,  and  gave  fiery  energy  to  his  utter¬ 
ance. 

He  was  a  born  preacher,  as  Tennyson  was 
a  born  poet,  and  Gladstone  a  born  states¬ 
man.  No  wonder  that,  even  with  the 
disadvantage  of  a  weak  body,  and  of  a 

74 


Iftnoi  anD  Xutbcr 


ministry  not  beginning  until  he  was  forty- 
five  years  old  and  ending  at  sixty-seven, 
and  of  the  further  fact  that  these  twenty- 
two  years  were  sadly  interrupted — two  in 
slavery,  five  in  England,  three  on  the 
continent,  and  two  made  almost  ineffec¬ 
tual  by  paralysis — Knox  was  enabled  to 
do  a  work  that  elevated  all  Scotland  and 
thrilled  the  very  eternities  with  joy  and 
salvation. 

Again,  like  Luther,  Knox  was  a  man  of 
notable,  marvelous  moral  courage,  the 
outgrowth  of  an  ever-devel- 

,  ,  0  Iftnox  anfc  Xutber 

oping  faith  in  God.  See 
him  in  his  earlier  life  going  before  George 
Wishart  with  a  two-branded  sword,  and 
protecting  his  friend  as  he  preached  the 
gospel.  Study  a  little  but  significant  in¬ 
cident  connected  with  him  as  a  galley 
slave  at  Nantes.  An  image  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  was  held  before  him  and  he  was 
commanded  to  kiss  it.  Refusing  imme¬ 
diately  and  peremptorily,  he  was  told  to 
at  least  handle  it,  when,  taking  up  the 
image  he  threw  it  with  force  into  the 
water,  exclaiming  with  an  Elijah-like 

75 


3obn  Iknox 


irony,  as  he  heard  it  splash  in  the  water : 
“  Let  our  Lady  now  save  herself,  if  she 
be  a  god  ;  she  is  light  enough,  let  her 
swim  !  ”  He  himself  tells  of  the  inci¬ 
dent,  adding  with  quiet  humor  :  “  After 
that,  no  other  Scotchman  was  urged 
with  idolatry.”  Once  during  an  ad¬ 
dress,  strong  and  even  vehement,  before 
Queen  Mary,  Knox  was  interrupted  by 
one  of  the  nobles  with  the  words  :  “You 
forget  yourself ;  you  are  not  in  your  pul¬ 
pit  !  ”  “  That  is  true,”  replied  our  hero, 

“but  I  am  in  the  place  where  I  am  de¬ 
manded  by  my  conscience  to  speak  the 
truth,  and  therefore  the  truth  I  speak  ; 
impugn  it  whoso  list.” 

Are  we  surprised  at  times  at  Knox’s 
language  when,  for  example,  he  speaks  of 
“  Gardiner  and  his  black  brood,”  and  of 
the  wafer  of  the  host  as  “the  round- 
clipped  god”;  declares  that  “the  wily 
devil  rages  in  his  obedient  servants  cruel 
Winchester,  dreaming  Durham,  bloody 
Bonner,  with  the  rest  of  the  bloody, 
butchering  brood”;  and  that  “Jezebel 

never  erected  half  so  many  gallows  in  all 

76 


Umoi  anD  Xutber 


Israel  as  mischievous  Mary  hath  erected 
in  London  alone”;  let  us  bear  in  mind 
that  all  this  was  true,  and  that  Knox  was 
raised  up  and  educated  of  God  to  tell  the 
truth,  come  what  might — anger  to  a  queen 
or  death  to  himself.  He  had  learned,  he 
tells  us,  “from  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  and 
others,  to  call  a  spade  a  spade,”  and  it  was 
awkward  for  him  to  denominate  it  an  agri¬ 
cultural  implement.  Life  to  him  was  too 
real  and  earnest  to  ever  encourage 
duplicity,  insincerity,  cowardice.  Like 
Cromwell’s  Ironsides,  he  was  dispos¬ 
sessed  of  all  fear  of  man,  and  fully  pos¬ 
sessed  of  the  true  fear  of  God.  And  yet, 
as  another  has  beautifully  said,  Knox  was 
no  heartless  stoic  ;  but  rather,  like  the 
granite  mountains  of  his  native  land,  he 
had  within  all  his  strength  and  sublimity, 
fountains  of  tenderness  and  valleys  laugh¬ 
ing  with  cheer.  He  was  a  man  of  his 
time  and  for  his  time.  No  gentle  expostu¬ 
lation  would  have  taken  the  place  of  his 
stern  denunciations.  He  had  to  be  what 
he  was  in  order  to  accomplish  what  he 
did.  McCrie  sums  his  nature  up  in  the 

77 


3obn  umoi 


forceful  declaration  that  he  was  austere, 
but  not  unfeeling  ;  stern,  but  not  savage  ; 
vehement,  but  not  vindictive.  Beneath 
all  his  sternness  of  face  and  manner  there 
was  a  heart  of  tenderness  and  deep  emo¬ 
tion. 

But  with  all  Knox’s  supreme  virtues, 
like  all  other  men  he  had  his  faults.  We 
would  not  conceal  the  error 

Ibis  faults  .  ,  .  ,  ,  . , . 

of  which  he  was  guilty  in 
the  publication  of  his  “  First  Blast  of  the 
Trumpet  Against  the  Monstrous  Regiment 
of  Women,”  a  work  produced  when  burn¬ 
ing  with  righteous  indignation  at  the  atro¬ 
cities  of  the  bloody  Mary,  and  his  unwill¬ 
ing  exile  from  the  land  in  which  he 
yearned  to  labor.  As  illustrative  of  its 
trend,  take  one  sentence  :  “To  promote 
a  woman  to  bear  rule,  superiority,  do¬ 
minion,  or  empire  above  any  realm,  na¬ 
tion,  or  city,  is  repugnant  to  nature,  con¬ 
tumely  against  God,  and  a  subversion  of 
all  good  order,  of  all  equality  and  justice.” 
Knox  subsequently  realized  the  mistake  he 
had  made  in  his  composition,  and  candidly 
declares:  “My  first  blast  hath  blown 

78 


Bt  IRest 


from  me  all  my  friends.”  But  this  was 
not  Knox’s  greatest  error.  We  find  him 
in  1560  guilty  of  a  deception  which  can¬ 
not  be  overlooked  nor  excused.  It  is 
where,  for  the  sake  of  advancing  the 
Reformation’s  cause,  he  advises  Sir  James 
Craft  to  deceive  the  government  by  claim¬ 
ing  that  certain  men,  whose  help  he 
needed,  were  enemies  of  the  Reforma¬ 
tion,  and  thereby  save  them  from  sus¬ 
picion.  A  sad,  sorrowful  sin  !  How  weak 
poor  human  nature  is  at  its  very  best  ! 
How  much  evil  is  mixed  with  good  !  How 
the  light  is  attended  by  shadows  !  How 
near  to  the  finest  fiber  is  oftentimes  the 
flaw  !  How  many  the  limitations  of  the 
most  finely  tempered  integrity  !  Abra¬ 
ham,  Moses,  Paul,  John,  Luther,  Cranmer, 
Knox — how  each,  though  possessed  of 
mighty  strength,  had  weaknesses  which 
may  neither  be  extenuated  nor  vindicated, 
but  must  be  confessed  and  lamented  ! 

But  casting  over  Knox’s  faults  and  frail¬ 
ties  a  veil  of  charity,  and  re¬ 
calling  with  joy  and  inspira¬ 
tion  his  qualities  of  such  greatness  and 

79 


mt  IRest 


5obn  Iknoi 


glory,  we  think  of  him  at  this  hour  as  at 
rest  from  all  his  labors,  and  free  from  all 
his  frailties — an  emancipated,  triumphant 
spirit  in  the  presence  of  his  King. 

Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done ! 

Praise  be  thy  new  employ  ; 

And  while  eternal  ages  run, 

Rest  in  thy  Saviour’s  joy. 


80 


BAPTISTS  AND  LITERATURE 


^Address  before  the  "Baptist  {Ministers’  Con¬ 
ference,  "Philadelphia,  November 
23,  1896. 


Ill 


THERE  has  existed  in  all  ages,” 
writes  a  distinguished  American 
essayist, 

A  class  of  men,  called  at  different  periods  by 
different  names,  but  generally  comprehended  under 
the  name  of  authors.  They  hold  the  same  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  mind  of  man  that  the  agriculturist  and 
manufacturer  bear  to  his  body ;  and  by  virtue  of 
their  sway  over  the  realm  of  thought  and  emo¬ 
tion,  they  have  exercised  a  vast  influence  upon 
human  affairs,  which  has  too  often  been  denied  or 
overlooked  by  earth’s  industrial  or  political  sover¬ 
eigns.  Without  taking  into  view  the  lives  and 
thoughts  of  such,  history  becomes  to  us  an 
enigma  ;  we  read  of  wars,  crusades,  persecutions, 
ameliorations,  of  mighty  and  convulsive  changes 
in  opinions  and  manners,  without  obtaining  any 
clue  to  the  real  causes  of  events,  any  insight  into 
the  laws  of  God’s  providence.  Without  weaving 
literary  into  civil  history,  we  gain  no  knowledge 
of  the  annals  of  human  nature.  We  have  the 
body  of  history  without  the  soul,  events  without 
ideas,  effects  without  causes,  the  very  atheism  of 
narrative. 


83 


JBapttsts  anD  Xiterature 


With  this  exalted  estimate  of  literature 
and  its  potent  influence  upon  all  aspects 
of  human  life,  upon  art  and  science,  upon 
philosophy  and  religion,  upon  domestic, 
social,  and  political  economy,  we  come  to 
the  question  proposed  for  our  thought  at 
this  hour — The  relation  of  Baptists  to  the 
world’s  literature.  We  interpret  litera¬ 
ture  here  in  the  broad  sense  used  by 
William  R.  Williams,  when  he  writes  : 

The  term  “literature”  comprises  all  the  intel¬ 
lectual  products  of  a  nation,  from  the  encyclopaedia 
to  the  newspaper ;  the  epic  poem  and  Sunday- 
school  hymn,  the  sermon  and  epigram,  the  essay 
and  sonnet,  the  oration  and  street  ballad,  all  that 
represents  and  awakens  the  popular  mind,  all  that 
interprets  by  the  use  of  words  the  nation  to  them¬ 
selves  and  to  other  nations  of  earth. 

The  subject  is,  of  course,  too  broad  and 
comprehensive  for  adequate  treatment  in 
the  time  allotted  this  address.  We  must, 
therefore,  content  ourselves  with  the  sug¬ 
gestion  and  discussion  of  a  few  only  of 
the  more  salient  and  important  facts  in¬ 
volved. 

The  relation  of  which  we  speak  may  be 

84 


£belt  Influence  on  JBtble  translation 


classified  and  set  forth  as  two-fold  in  its 
character — direct  and  indirect.  Each  of 
these  points  demands  special  attention 
and  separate  investigation. 

In  their  direct  influence  upon  literature 
Baptists  have  achieved,  in  all  their  his- 
tory,  no  grander,  no  more  U6dc  ,nfluence 
far-reaching  results  than  in  on  Bible 
their  labors  upon  the  sacred  'Cran0latlon 
text  of  Scripture,  as  these  are  revealed  in 
critical,  exegetical,  and  linguistic  works. 

Not  to  go  back  further  in  Baptist  annals 
than  the  sixteenth  century  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  era  (if  indeed  there  be  a  more  remote 
period  that  invites  investigation  in  this 
direction),  we  learn  that  in  the  year  1526, 
several  years  before  the  publication  of 
Luther’s  Bible,  two  Anabaptists,  Denk 
and  Hastzer,  undertook  in  Strasburg  a 
translation  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  one  part 
of  which  (the  Prophets)  was  published 
the  following  year.  This  greatly  needed, 
and,  under  the  circumstances,  well-exe¬ 
cuted  translation,  marks  the  beginning  of 
a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  Bible  trans¬ 
lation.  In  1660,  the  Rev.  Henry  Jessey, 

35 


JSapttets  and  Xlterature 


a  Baptist  scholar  of  no  mean  attainments, 
began  work  in  the  same  line,  but  severe 
and  unexpected  persecutions  in  England 
prevented  the  publication  of  his  studies. 
Prior  to  the  year  1834,  Dr.  William  Carey 
— of  whom  the  distinguished  Wilberforce, 
in  the  British  House  of  Commons,  said, 
“His  proficiency  in  Sanscrit  is  acknowl¬ 
edged  to  be  greater  than  that  of  Sir  Wil¬ 
liam  Jones  or  any  other  European” — 
translated  the  Bible  into  more  than  a  score 
of  dialects  and  languages ;  and  the  state¬ 
ment  is  made,  upon  reliable  authority, 
that  before  his  death,  and  without  ques¬ 
tion,  as  a  reward  of  his  inspiration  and 
work,  the  missionary  press  of  Serampore 
had  sent  forth  the  Scriptures  in  forty  dif¬ 
ferent  languages  and  dialects,  the  tongue 
of  thirty-three  millions  of  human  beings. 
The  work  of  Dr.  Judson’s  Bible  transla¬ 
tion  for  the  Burmese,  of  Dr.  Marshman’s 
for  the  Chinese,  of  Dr.  Nathan  Brown’s 
for  the  Japanese,  of  Dr.  Mason’s  for  the 
Karens,  of  Cushing’s  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  the  Shan  language,  and  of  Dr. 

H.  F.  Buckner’s  self-denying  toil  in  trans- 

86 


baptist  Commentaries 


lating  the  Gospel  of  John  into  the  lan¬ 
guages  of  the  Creek  Indians,  are  each  a 
grand  monument  of  consecrated  industry 
and  ability  which  the  Christian  world  may 
well  acknowledge,  and  for  which  every 
Baptist  heart  should  be  devoutly  grateful 
to  God.  Besides  these,  we  have  Bowen’s 
vocabulary  and  grammar  of  the  Yoruban 
language,  a  proof  of  the  excellence  of 
which  is  found  in  the  fact  that  it  is  a  pub¬ 
lication  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

And  time  would  fail  me  here  to  speak 
at  any  length  of  John  Gill’s  Commen¬ 
tary  ;  of  Robert  and  James 

A.  Haldane’s  Expositions,  ^entader* 
respectively,  of  Romans  and 
Galatians  ;  of  Ripley’s  Notes  on  the  Gos¬ 
pels,  Acts,  Romans,  and  Hebrews  ;  of 
Spurgeon’s  “Treasury  of  David”;  of 
Mitchell’s  Revised  Davies’  Hebrew  Lexi¬ 
con  ;  of  William  Jones’  “Dictionary  of 
Sacred  Writings”;  of  Green’s  “Hand¬ 
book  to  the  Grammar  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  ”  ;  of  Hutchinson’s  “Syriac  Gram¬ 
mar  and  Chrestomathy  ”  ;  of  Clifford’s 
“Old  Testament  Characters”;  of  Pat- 

87 


baptists  anfc  literature 


tison’s  Ephesians  and  Hinton’s  Daniel  ; 
of  Reach’s  Parables  and  Clark’s  Com¬ 
mentaries ;  of  Sherwood’s  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  Explanatory  and  Practical  ;  of 
Johnson’s  “Quotations  of  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament  from  the  Old  ”  ;  of  Kendrick’s 
Olshausen  Commentary  on  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament ;  of  Stevens’  and  Burton’s  “  Exe- 
getical  Studies  ”  ;  of  Whitney’s  “  Revisers 
of  the  Greek  Text”  ;  of  Conant’s  Gese- 
nius’  Hebrew  Grammar  and  New  Trans¬ 
lation  of  the  Book  of  Job  ;  of  King’s  “Our 
Gospels”  and  Henderson’s  “Development 
of  Doctrine  ”  ;  of  Hackett’s  Original  Text 
of  Acts,  Chaldee  Grammar,  and  edition 
of  Smith’s  Dictionary  ;  of  the  American 
Commentary,  by  Baptist  scholars  like  Ho- 
vey,  Hackett,  Broadus,  and  Clarke  ;  of 
Malcom’s  Bible  Dictionary,  with  its  im¬ 
mense  circulation  of  nearly  two  hundred 
thousand  copies  ;  and  lastly,  of  the  valu¬ 
able  service  rendered  from  time  to  time 
by  our  scholars  in  the  revision  of  the  word 
of  God. 

Surely  Baptists  have  accomplished  in 

the  matter  of  expounding  and  translating 

88 


Sermontc  literature 


the  Bible  and  giving  it  in  intelligent  form 
to  the  nations,  a  work  both  unique  and 
magnificent. 

In  sermonic  literature  Baptists  have 
not  been  so  prominent  as  in  the  exposition 
and  translation  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  still  the  place  they  Serm°"^cXltcrs 
hold  here  is  quite  creditable. 

The  one  name,  Charles  Haddon  Spurgeon, 
confers  upon  our  denomination  a  grand 
distinction.  It  may  be  with  a  feeling  of 
commendable  pride  that  a  single  body  of 
the  great  Christian  fraternity  is  able  to 
class  among  its  constituents  Milton,  the 
poet ;  Bunyan,  the  allegorist ;  and  Spur¬ 
geon,  the  preacher — three  names  than 
which  no  other  names  in  English  annals 
hold  higher  position  in  their  respective 
spheres.  So  popular  have  been  Mr.  Spur¬ 
geon’s  sermons  that  many  of  them  have 
been  translated  into  German,  Welsh, 
Swedish,  French,  Danish,  Italian,  and 
other  European  tongues. 

But  Spurgeon  stands  not  alone  in  the 
history  of  the  Baptist  pulpit,  a  great 

preacher  of  righteousness.  Before  him 

89 


baptists  anD  Xiterature 


and  along  by  his  side  there  have  been, 
and  to-day  are,  men  of  our  pulpit  pre¬ 
eminent  for  piety,  intellectual  power,  and 
oratorical  talent  of  the  highest  order — 
men  whose  spoken  and  published  thought 
has  done  no  little  in  influencing  and  mold¬ 
ing  the  thought  and  literature  of  our  day. 
We  have  but  to  recall  the  names  of  such 
ambassadors  of  Christ  as  Christmas 
Evans,  the  brightest  ornament  of  the 
Welsh  pulpit ;  of  Robert  Hall  who,  as 
Dugald  Stewart  says,  combined  in  his 
writings  the  beauty  of  Johnson,  Addison, 
and  Burke,  without  their  imperfections ; 
of  the  noted  Stillman,  whose  sermons  on 
the  Stamp  Act  (1776)  and  before  Congress 
(1770)  and  on  the  French  Revolution 
(1794),  made  him  so  conspicuous  a  per¬ 
sonage  ;  of  Brantley  and  Parkinson,  Rich¬ 
ard  Fuller  and  Leland,  Elton  and  Staugh- 
ton,  Wayland  and  Stow,  Manly  and 
Furman  and  Brown  of  days  gone  by, 
and  McLaren,  Hull,  Robinson,  Armitage, 
Winkler,  Henson,  Boardman,  Lorimer, 
MacArthur,  and  others  of  our  own  time. 

And  in  this  connection  should  be  men- 

90 


^Theological  anD  IReligious  lldotks 


tioned  Armitage’s  “Preaching;  Its  Inner 
and  Ideal  Life,”  and  Broadus’  “  Prepara¬ 
tion  and  Delivery  of  Sermons,”  the  latter 
acknowledged  in  our  land  to  be  the  best 
American  work  on  preaching,  and  one 
which  has  gained  most  gratifying  recep¬ 
tion  and  circulation  in  some  colleges  of 
England. 

Among  theological  and  religious  works 
by  Baptists  we  notice  such  books  as  Gill’s 
“  Body  of  Divinity  ”;  Marsh- 
man’s  “Deity  and  Atone-  jEbeoiog(caian& 

J  IReltgious  TIClorfes 

ment  of  Christ”;  Brown’s 
“  Encyclopaedia  of  Religious  Knowledge  ”; 
Andrew  Fuller’s  extensive  works  ;  Dagg’s 
“  Moral  Science  and  Manual  of  Theol¬ 
ogy  ”  ;  Pendleton’s  “  Christian  Doc¬ 
trine  ”  ;  Brine’s  “  Vindication  of  Natural 
Religion  ”  ;  Parkinson’s  “  Ministry  of  the 
Word  ”  ;  Howell’s  “  Way  of  Salvation  ”; 
Boyce’s  “Systematic  Theology”;  Wil¬ 
liams’  “  Lord’s  Prayer  and  Religious  Prog¬ 
ress  ”  ;  Magoon’s  “Republican  Christi¬ 
anity”;  Winkler’s  “  Spirit  of  Missions”; 
Hovey’s  “  Systematic  Theology  and  Chris¬ 
tian  Ethics”  ;  Smith’s  “Canon  of  Scrip- 

91 


baptists  anD  ^Literature 


ture  and  its  Inspiration  ”  ;  Angus’  “  Hand¬ 
book  of  the  Bible  Lorimer’s  “  Argument 
for  Christianity  ”  ;  Boardman’s  “Crea¬ 
tive  Week  ”  and  “  Mountain  Instruc¬ 
tion  ”  ;  Johnson’s  “  Outlines  of  System¬ 
atic  Theology  ”  ;  Reach’s  “  Gospel  Mys¬ 
teries  Unveiled  ”  ;  the  six  volumes  of 
Archibald  McLean’s  works  ;  Merrill’s 
“  Parchments  of  the  Faith  ”  ;  Wayland’s 
essays  on  questions  educational,  philo¬ 
sophical,  and  religious  ;  Spurgeon’s  “  De¬ 
votional  Writings”;  Pattison’s  “History  of 
the  English  Bible  Belcher’s  “  Religious 
Denominations”;  Turnbull’s  “Christ  in 
History”;  Milton’s  “True  Religion  and 
Prelatical  Episcopacy,”  which  “abounds 
in  passages  compared  with  which  the 
finest  declarations  of  Burke  sink  into  in¬ 
significance  ”;  and  lastly,  the  productions 
of  the  “Immortal  Dreamer,”  who  has 
more  readers,  next  to  inspired  men,  than 
any  other  who  has  had  his  thoughts  to 
“trickle  through  his  pen  ” — Bunyan,  one 
of  whose  works,  “  Pilgrim’s  Progress,” 
has  been  translated  into  some  thirty  or 
more  languages  and  dialects  ;  a  book  of 

92 


GbeolOQlcal  anfc  IRcltetous  Udorfts 


which  England’s  most  gifted  nineteenth 
century  critic  says,  “  There  is  no  book  in 
our  literature  on  which  we  should  so 
readily  stake  the  fame  of  the  old  unpol¬ 
luted  English,  no  book  which  shows  so 
well  how  rich  our  language  is  in  its  own 
proper  wealth.”  Of  this  gifted  author  we 
may  sing  with  the  poet: 

Nothing  can  cover  his  high  name  but  heaven  ; 

No  monument  set  off  his  memories 

But  the  eternal  substance  of  his  greatness. 

Macaulay  utters  no  extravagant  words 
when  he  writes  :  “We  are  not  afraid  to 
say  that,  though  there  were  many  clever 
men  in  England  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  there  were  only 
two  great  creative  minds.  One  of  these 
minds  produced  the  ‘  Paradise  Lost/  the 
other  the  ‘Pilgrim’s  Progress’”;  com¬ 
menting  on  which  judgment  an  author 
has  written  : 

One  of  these  two  great  creative  minds,  the 
Shakespeare  of  the  spiritual  drama  for  mankind, 
the  matchless  delineator  of  the  unseen  workings 
of  the  human  spirit  in  its  struggles  after  God,  in 

93 


baptists  anfc  Xiterature 


its  conflicts  with  the  unseen,  in  its  aspirings  after 
the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,  was  immured  in 
prison  twelve  years,  for  declaring  the  primitive 
gospel  and  administering  the  primitive  ordinances 
as  a  Baptist  preacher,  abundant  in  labors  for  his 
Master ;  the  other  composed  his  two  most  elaborate, 
painstaking  volumes  to  prove  from  the  Scriptures 
the  divine  origin  and  authority  of  the  distinguish¬ 
ing  principles  of  Baptists. 

It  may  be  well  just  here  to  specify  a 
few  of  the  more  polemical  treatises  that 
have  come  from  the  pen  of 

IPolernical^Urcas  gap^-js^Sj  for  much  0f  their 

literature  has,  of  necessity, 
been  of  a  dogmatic  and  denominational 
character  :  “  Philosophy  of  Atheism,”  by 
B.  Goodwin  ;  “  Anti-Pedobaptism,”  by 
John  Tombes  ;  Jeter's  “  Campbellism 
Examined  ”  ;  “  Infant  Baptism  a  Part 

and  Pillar  of  Popery,”  by  Gill  ;  “  Bap¬ 
tism  in  its  Mode  and  Subjects,”  by  Alex¬ 
ander  Carson  ;  Williams'  “  Apostolic 
Church  Polity”;  Cathcart’s  “Baptism 
of  the  Ages”;  Cote’s  “Baptism  and 
Baptisteries”;  “The  Position  of  Bap¬ 
tism  in  the  Christian  System,”  by  H. 
H.  Tucker;  Broaddus'  “Church  Disci- 

94 


lpoleirtfcal  {Treatises 


pline  ”  ;  Reynolds’  “Church  Order”; 
Wayland’s  “  Principles  and  Practices  of 
Baptist  Churches  ”  ;  Curtis’  “  Commun¬ 
ion  ”  ;  Hague’s  “Eight  Views  of  Bap¬ 
tism  ”  ;  Gotch’s  “  Baptism  ”  ;  Hosken’s 
“  Infant  Baptism  ”  ;  Jones’  “  Spirit, 
Policy,  and  Influence  of  Baptists  ”  ; 
Howell’s  “  Evils  of  Infant  Baptism  ”  ; 
Anderson’s  “  Vindication  of  Baptism  ”  ; 
Jones’  “  Plea  for  Baptist  Principles  ”  ; 
Bates’  “  Defense  of  Baptism  ;  ”  and  Con- 
ant’s  “  Meaning  and  Use  of  Baptizein  Phi- 
lologically  and  Historically  Considered,” 
which  is  without  question  the  most  schol¬ 
arly  and  convincing  production  on  the 
subject  extant,  and  Newman’s  “  Anti- 
Pedobaptism,”  named  last  but  not  least. 

But  it  has  not  been  alone  in  defense  of 
our  distinctive  views  that  Baptists  have 
used  their  pens  with  vigor  and  learning, 
but  also  in  behalf  of  the  great  funda¬ 
mental  principles  on  which  the  whole 
fabric  of  pure  unemasculated  Christianity 
stands.  With  simple  mention  we  point 
to  Holcombe’s  “Anti-Mission  Principles 
Exposed  ”  ;  Cathcart’s  “  Papal  System 

95 


JBaptlets  anD  ^Literature 


Curry’s  “  Establishment  and  Disestab¬ 
lishment  ”  ;  Andrew’s  “Moral  Tendency 
of  Universalism  ”  ;  Parker’s  “Harmony 
of  the  Ages  ”  ;  Waffle’s  “  Sabbath  ”  ; 
Faunce’s  “  Prayer  ”  and  “  Inspiration  as  a 
Trend  ”  ;  and  Dowling’s  “  History  of  Ro¬ 
manism.”  From  the  above  it  will  be  ob¬ 
served  that  the  literature  of  Baptists 
has  been  predominantly  a  religious  litera¬ 
ture.  Our  most  eminent  scholars  have 
been  among  our  most  consecrated  men. 
This  may  or  may  not  add  to  the  lustre  of 
their  names  in  the  present  age  of  the 
world,  but  in  the  long  run,  and  on  the 
whole,  will  be  to  their  honor. 

And  from  the  peculiarities  of  our  faith, 
it  need  hardly  be  said  that  our  religious 
literature  is  eminently  bib- 
fctterature  jjcap  The  Scriptures  are 

not  only  our  rule  of  faith, 
but  the  only  allowed  source  of  authorita¬ 
tive  teaching.”  The  earnest  and  unfal¬ 
tering  advocates  of  such  views  as  these, 
Baptists,  even  in  their  literary  activity, 
must  be  expected  to  produce  a  mighty 

influence  upon  religion  and  the  Bible. 

96 


3Biograpb£ 


Macaulay’s  eloquence  voices  a  great  truth 
when,  in  his  essay  on  Mitford’s  “  History 
of  Greece,”  he  writes,  that  wherever  lit¬ 
erature  consoles  sorrow  or  assuages  pain, 
there  is  exhibited  the  noblest  form  and  the 
immortal  influence  of  letters  ;  and  we  re- 

t 

joice  that  it  is  in  behalf  of  literature  of  this 
pure  and  exalted  kind  that  Baptists  have 
produced  their  most  noted  and  far-reach¬ 
ing  works.  Only  the  light  and  ages  of 
eternity  can  reveal  the  cheer  and  conso¬ 
lation  borne  to  weary,  burdened  spirits 
through  such  Baptist  works  as  Spurgeon’s 
“  Morning  by  Morning  ”  and  “  Evening  by 
Evening,”  Fuller’s  “  Power  of  the  Cross,” 
Fish’s  “  Primitive  Piety,”  Carson’s 
“  Knowledge  of  Jesus,”  Hoyt’s  “  Gleams 
from  Paul’s  Prisons,”  Gordon’s  “Minis¬ 
try  of  the  Spirit,”  and  Montague’s 
“  Heaven,”  each  with  message  so  tender. 

Of  the  many  biographies  or  biographical 
sketches  by  Baptists  which  might  here 
be  enumerated,  the  following 

,  .  ,  ,  a  u  4. 

are  most  important  and  best 

known  :  “Memoir  of  Adoniram  Judson,” 

by  Francis  Wayland ;  “  Life  of  Luther 
g  97 


baptists  anb  Xiterature 


Rice,”  by  J.  B.  Taylor  ;  “  Life  of  Rich¬ 
ard  Fuller,”  by  J.  H.  Cuthbert ;  “Life 
of  Adoniram  Judson,”  by  Edward  Jud- 
son  ;  Fuller’s  “  Memoir  of  Andrew  Ful¬ 
ler  ”  ;  “  Life  and  Correspondence  of  John 
Foster,”  by  J.  E.  Ryland ;  Belcher’s 
“Baptist  Martyrs”;  “Eras  and  Char¬ 
acters  of  Flistory,”  by  W.  R.  Williams; 
lives  of  Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward, 
by  J.  C.  Marshman  ;  “  Memoir  of  Christ¬ 
mas  Evans,”  by  D.  W.  Phillips;  “Life 
of  Martin  Luther,”  by  B.  Sears;  Hill’s 
“Washington  Irving  and  William  Cullen 
Bryant”;  “Life  of  John  Bunyan,”  by 
Ira  Chase;  Wyeth’s  “  Judsons  ” — Mrs. 
Ann  H.,  Sarah  B.,  and  Emily  C. —  and 
his  “  Galaxy  in  the  Burman  Sky  ”  ;  “  Life 
of  Mrs.  Emily  C.  Judson,”  by  A.  C.  Ken¬ 
drick  ;  Ivimey’s  “  Life  of  Milton  ”  ;  Pat- 
tison’s  “  Making  of  William  Carey  ”  ; 
Knowles’  “  Life  of  Roger  Williams  ”  ; 
“  Life  and  Times  of  James  Manning,”  by 
Reuben  A.  Guild  ;  “  Life  and  Times  of 
Backus,”  by  A.  Hovey  ;  Kendrick’s  “  Bi¬ 
ography  of  Martin  B.  Anderson  ”  ;  “  Life 

of  James  P.  Boyce,”  by  John  A.  Broadus  ; 

98 


;JBlO0rapb£ 


“Life  of  J.  B.  Jeter,”  by  William  E. 
Hatcher;  “Life  of  George  Dana  Board- 
man,”  by  Alonzo  King,  and  Gregory’s 
“Life  of  Robert  Hall.”  These  biogra¬ 
phies,  though  largely  denominational,  are 
full  of  information  and  of  thrilling  inter* 
est  to  the  whole  Christian  world,  fur¬ 
nishing  as  they  do  telling  accounts  of  the 
life  and  deeds  of  noble  servants  of  God, 
some  of  whom  gave  up  home  and  com¬ 
fort  and  even  life  itself  for  the  glory  of 
our  common  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  relation  of  Baptists  to  history  and 
historical  research  has  been  neither  so 
extensive  nor  so  satisfactory  as  we  might 
desire.  We  need  the  talent  of  some 
strong  intellect  to  be  devoted  for  years  to 
thorough  research  in  the  libraries  of  our 
land  and  of  the  old  countries,  determin¬ 
ing  what  Baptists  have  been  and  done, 
and  thus  become  prepared  to  furnish  the 
world  with  a  scholarly,  unbiased  standard 
work  on  Baptist  history.  This  I  believe 
to  be  a  great  desideratum  of  the  Baptist 
denomination  at  this  period  of  its  life. 

99 


baptists  an£>  Xitcrature 


Ifotetorical 

TKHorfts 


But  Baptist  pens  have  not  been  idle  in 
this  work  of  contributing  to  history.  All 
along  the  track  of  our  prog¬ 
ress  are  noble  monuments 
of  historical  investigation : 
Robinson’s  “  Historical  Researches  ”  ; 
Vedder’s  “Dawn  of  Christianity”  and 
“  History  of  Baptists”;  Chowles’  edition 
of  Neal’s  “History  of  the  Puritans”  and 
Foster’s  “  Statesmen  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth  ”  ;  Newman’s  “History  of  the 
Baptists  ”  ;  Banvard’s  “  Plymouth  and 
the  Pilgrims  ”  ;  Burrage’s  “  Anabaptists 
of  Switzerland  ”  ;  Hinton’s  “  History  of 
the  United  States  ” ;  Mrs.  Conant’s 
“New  England  Theocracy”;  Smith’s 
“  Modern  Church  History  ”  ;  Ross’  “Civil 
and  Religious  History  of  Rhode  Island  ” 
Anderson’s  “Annals  of  the  English  Bible  ” 
Tupper’s  “  Decade  of  Foreign  Missions  ” 
Moss’  “  Annals  of  the  Christian  Commis¬ 
sion  ”  ;  to  speak  not  specifically  of  the 
works  of  Keach  and  Orchard,  of  Backus 
and  Semple,  of  Cutting  and  Crosby,  of 
Cathcart  and  Curtis.  In  these  valuable 
labors  of  love  there  is  furnished  the  world 


ioo 


baptist  poets 


a  wealth  of  material  which  thus  far  has 
been  too  little  recognized.  Nor  can  we 
forget  that  it  was  Robert  Haldane,  a  Bap¬ 
tist,  who  was  instrumental  in  the  awak¬ 
ening  and  conversion  of  D’Aubigne,  and 
who  therefore  is  indirectly  connected  with 
the  production  of  the  noblest  history  of 
the  sixteenth  century  Reformation. 

If  we  have  a  right  to  claim,  as  a  Bap¬ 
tist,  John  Milton  with  his  Arian  tenden¬ 
cies,  his  name,  of  course, 
must  stand  first  among  Bap¬ 
tist  poets.  His  “Paradise  Lost”  and 
“Samson  Agonistes  ”  entitle  him  to  the 
eulogy  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  English 
essayists,  when  he  declares  that  Milton, 
the  prince  of  poets,  with  Bacon,  the 
prince  of  philosophers,  made  the  Eliza¬ 
bethan  Age  a  more  glorious  and  important 
era  in  the  history  of  human  thought  than 
Pericles,  or  Augustus,  or  Leo.  Dryden 
furnishes  this  fine  tribute  to  Milton  : 


36aptlst  ipoets 


Three  poets  in  three  distant  ages  born  ; 
Greece,  Italy,  and  England  did  adorn, 

The  first  in  loftiness  of  thought  surpassed  ; 
The  next  in  majesty  ;  in  both  the  last ; 

IOI 


baptists  anD  Xiterature 


The  force  of  nature  could  no  further  go, 

To  make  a  third  she  joined  the  former  two. 

“  In  Milton’s  age  there  were  many  poets 
who  ranked  in  popular  esteem  above  him, 
but  two  hundred  years  of  reflection  have 
worn  the  gilt  off  the  common  iron  of  their 
work  and  burnished  the  gold  of  his.” 

Did  time  permit  we  should  like  to  dwell 
at  length  and  separately  upon  the  poems, 
religious  and  other,  of  such  Baptist  authors 
as  Fawcett,  Steele,  Beddome,  Wallen, 
Medley,  Fellows,  Turner,  Swain,  Sten- 
nett,  Rippon,  Mote,  Turney,  Washburn, 
Knowles,  Furman,  S.  F.  Smith,  Thurber, 
Brown,  Phelps,  Curtis,  Gilmore,  Lowry, 
Richards,  Dyer,  Doane,  Robinson,  Wilkin¬ 
son,  and  others,  poets  who  have  given  the 
world  no  fewer  than  a  thousand  produc¬ 
tions  in  verse,  some  of  them  of  great  poeti¬ 
cal  value,  all  of  them  breathing  the  lofty 
spirit  of  Christian  consecration  and  faith. 

It  is  no  small  source  of  gratification  to 
us  that  some  of  the  most  popular  and 
soul-stirring  of  church  hymns  are  the 
composition  of  Baptists.  As  illustrative 

of  this,  recall  these  : 

102 


MEmn  Milters 


•fc^mn  TKHdters 


“  Come,  Holy  Spirit,  come,”  by  Benj. 
Beddome  ;  “Jesus,  thou  art  the  sinner’s 
Friend,”  by  Richard  Burn¬ 
ham;  “  Oh,  could  I  find  from 
day  to  day,”  by  Benj.  Cleavland  ;  “  Safe 
in  the  arms  of  Jesus,”  by  W.  H.  Doane  ; 
“  Ye  Christian  heroes,  go  proclaim,”  by 
B.  H.  Draper  ;  “  Blest  be  the  tie  that 
binds,”  by  John  Fawcett;  “He  leadeth. 
me,  oh,  blessed  thought,”  by  J.  H.  Gil¬ 
more  ;  “  Come,  humble  sinner,  in  whose 
breast,”  by  Edmund  Jones;  “How  firm 
a  foundation,”  by  George  Keith  ;  “  My 
hope  is  built  on  nothing  less,”  by  Edward 
Mote  ;  “  Come,  thou  fount  of  every  bless¬ 
ing,”  by  Robert  Robinson  ;  “  My  country, 
’tis  of  thee,”  by  S.  F.  Smith  ;  “  The  Sav¬ 
iour,  oh,  what  endless  charms,”  by  Anne 
Steele. 

Besides  all  these,  Ballondi,  of  Venice,  a 
Baptist  evangelist,  has  given  to  the  world 
a  collection  of  sacred  songs  which  has 
already  a  wide  circulation  and  promises  to 
receive  recognition  as  a  work  of  great 
merit. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  to  Baptists 

103 


Baptiste  anD  Xtterature 


the  world  is  indebted  for  the  most  popular 
national  hymn  of  our  language,  “  My 
country,  ’tis  of  thee  ”  ;  for  the  two  most 
popular  hymns  perhaps  of  the  church,  if 
we  except  “Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul,” 
and  “  Rock  of  ages,”  viz.,  “  Come,  thou 
Fount  of  every  blessing,”  and  “  Blest  be 
the  tie  that  binds.”  The  influence  of 
these  hymns  will  never  be  known  in  this 
world.  They  have  charmed  more  griefs 
to  rest  than  all  the  philosophy  of  earth. 
In  eternity  alone  we  shall  witness  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  their  beneficent  power. 

In  the  realm  of  literature  no  Baptist 
holds  a  higher  place — indeed  few  writers 
of  the  English  language  rank 
°enCaturTtCrs  higher  —  than  John  Foster, 
whose  essays,  in  the  opin¬ 
ion  of  Sir  James  Macintosh,  entitle  him 
to  the  reputation  of  being  “  one  of  the 
most  profound  and  eloquent  writers  that 
England  has  produced.”  His  “  Deci¬ 
sion  of  Character”  has  a  worldwide  re¬ 
nown.  Among  the  names  of  Ameri¬ 
can  essayists  that  of  William  Matthews, 

author  of  “Orators  and  Oratory,”  “Use 

104 


General  Xlterature 

and  Abuse  of  Words,”  and  several  other 
interesting  books,  ranks  most  credita¬ 
bly.  Dr.  William  R.  Williams,  of  New 
York,  was  one  of  the  most  chaste  and 
charming  writers  of  our  age.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  he  gave  to  the  public  no 
more  works  of  the  order  of  his  “  Miscel- 
lanies,”  “  Conservative  Principle  in  our 
Literature,”  and  “Eras  and  Characters 
of  History.”  No  mean  rank  may  be  as¬ 
signed  to  Angus’  “  Handbook  of  English 
Literature,”  Gregory’s  “  Handbook  of 
History,”  Ash’s  “Grammar  and  Diction¬ 
ary  of  the  English  Language,”  Shute’s 
“Manual  of  Anglo-Saxon,”  Leechman’s 
“Logic,”  Hill’s  “Elements  of  Rhetoric 
and  Genetic  Philosophy,”  Morey’s  “Ro¬ 
man  Law,”  and  Hinton’s  “  History  of  the 
United  States.”  One  is  surprised  also  at 
both  the  literary  industry  and  literary 
finish  of  Rufus  W.  Griswold,  who  “gave 
to  the  world,  from  time  to  time,  without 
his  name,  partly  or  entirely  written  by 
himself,  six  or  eight  works  on  history  and 
biography,  a  novel,  seven  discourses  on 
historical  and  philosophical  subjects,  and 

io5 


baptists  anD  Xiterature 


contributions  to  magazines  and  newspa¬ 
pers  sufficient  to  fill  a  dozen  octavo  vol¬ 
umes.  ”  His  “  Curiosities  of  American 
Literature,”  and  “  The  Poets  and  Poetry 
of  America,”  are  of  a  high  literary  order. 
Besides  these  there  are  some  rather  widely 
read  works  of  fiction  by  Baptist  authors  : 
Banvard’s  “Priscilla,”  Dayton’s  “Theo¬ 
dosia,”  Ford’s  “Grace  Truman,”  Chap¬ 
lin’s  “  Convent  and  Manse,”  Eddy’s 
“  Saxenhurst,”  and  the  attractive  works 
of  Mrs.  E.  C.  Judson,  as  “Fanny  For¬ 
ester,”  some  of  whose  writings  have  had 
a  gratifying  circulation. 

As  in  literary,  so  also  in  linguistic  studies 
and  writings  not  bearing  on  the  Scriptures, 
Baptists  have  reached  and 
X©tuMe0C  maintained  no  ordinary  posi¬ 
tion.  Carey’s  Mahratta, 
Sanscrit,  Punjabi,  and  Telinga  Gram¬ 
mars,  together  with  his  four  foreign  dic¬ 
tionaries  ;  Judson’s  Burmese  Dictionary  ; 
Wade’s  Karen  Dictionary  ;  Buckner’s 
“  Grammar  of  the  Creek  Indians  ”  ;  Gill’s 
“  Hebrew  Language,”  these  are  all  works 

the  worth  and  influence  of  which  are  uni- 

106 


Xlngutetic  Studies 


versally  recognized,  “the  precious  life¬ 
blood  of  master  spirits  embalmed  and 
treasured  up  to  a  life  beyond  life.”  In 
addition  to  these  we  have  Hackett’s 
translation  of  Winer’s  “  Chaldee  Gram* 
mar  ”  and  Plutarch  on  the  “  Delay  of 
Deity,”  Sears’  “Ciceronian,”  Kendrick’s 
“  Study  of  the  Greek  Language  ”  and  his 
edition  of  the  “  Anabasis,”  Richardson’s 
“Orthoepy,”  Staughton’s  “Virgil”  and 
“Greek  Grammar,”  Boise’s  seven  vol¬ 
umes  of  Greek  text-books,  Harkness’  eight 
volumes  Latin  and  Greek  text-books,  Har¬ 
per’s  “Linguistic  Studies,”  Lincoln’s  edi¬ 
tion  of  Livy  and  Horace,  Knapp’s  French 
Grammar  and  Chrestomathy,  Robin¬ 
son’s  translation  of  Neander’s  “  Planting 
and  Training,”  Champlin’s  edition  of 
Demosthenes  and  AEschines,  each  evin¬ 
cing  a  high  order  of  scholarship.  “  It  may 
be  said  with  justice,  that  leading  Baptist 
scholars  have  been  second  to  none  in 
thoroughness  and  breadth  of  learning,  and 
that  the  standard  by  which  attainment  in 
all  departments  of  knowledge  is  tested  has 

been  set  and  kept  at  a  high  point.” 

107 


baptists  anD  Xiterature 


How  far  this  judgment  quoted  is  just  in 
the  direction  of  scientific  productions  may 
be  seen  in  part  in  the  splen- 
did  contributions  of  Daniel 
H.  Barnes,  some  of  which 
were  made  use  of  by  Humboldt ;  Loomis’ 
writings  on  Anatomy,  Physiology,  Geol¬ 
ogy,  and  Philosophy,  MacGowan’s 
“  Chinese  Horology,”  Coles’  “  Treatise 
on  Physiology,”  Comstock’s  “  Notes  on 
Arrakan” — a  contribution  to  the  “  Journal 
of  the  American  Oriental  Society,” 
Clarke’s  “  Differential  and  Integral  Cal¬ 
culus,”  Davis’  “Deductive  Logic,”  San¬ 
ford’s  series  of  arithmetics,  Olney’s 
series  of  mathematical  text-books,  the 
ornithological  collections  of  J.  H.  Linsley, 
the  works  of  Dr.  A.  A.  Gould  on  natural 
history,  Willet’s  “Wonders  of  Insect 
Life,”  and  the  contributions  of  Rufus 
Griswold  to  American  bibliography. 

In  view  of  such  an  array  of  learned 
and  widely  circulated  works,  who  will  not 
admit  that  Baptist  literature  has  rendered 
noble  service  to  the  best  interests  of  man, 

“to  the  defense,  the  exposition,  and  the 

108 


TReltgtoue  journalism 


propagation  of  Christianity ;  to  the  ad¬ 
vancement  of  science,  of  education,  of 
culture  in  its  most  liberal  extent  ;  to  the 
arts  that  support  and  adorn  life,  and  to 
the  advocacy  of  enlightened  charities.  It 
includes  books  without  which  the  scholar 
would  find  his  resources  impaired,  and 
such  also  as  address  the  common  mind 
and  have  moved  men  in  masses.  .  .  The 
amount  of  activity  and  the  worth  of 
achievement  are  alike  fairly  equal  to  the 
measure  of  a  reasonable  expectation.” 
We  thank  God  for  all  this  and  take  cour- 
age  I 

No  statement  of  the  contribution  of 
Baptists  to  the  world’s  literature  would 
be  complete  or  at  all  satis¬ 
factory  without  a  mention  of  1ReU9ni°lu(^ours 
the  religious  journals  which 
have  been,  and  are  now,  published  under 
the  auspices  of  our  denomination,  journals 
of  which  we  may  say,  as  Chalmers  de¬ 
clared  regarding  those  of  his  time,  they 
contain  often  editorials  which  would  be 
highly  praised  if  found  forming  pages  in 

elaborate  volumes.  In  England  there  are 

109 


J6apti0t0  anD  Xitcrature 


the  weekly,  monthly,  and  yearly  publi¬ 
cations,  as  “The  Baptist  Magazine,” 
“Sword  and  Trowel,”  and  “The  Free¬ 
man,”  more  than  a  score  in  number;  in 
Wales,  journals  like  “The  Teacher”  and 
“  The  Star  of  Wales  ”  ;  in  Scotland,  “  The 
Scottish  Magazine  ”  ;  in  Italy,  The  “  Semi- 
natore  ”  ;  while  in  America  the  circulation 
to  the  extent  of  some  three  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  copies  of  weekly  publications  alone 
gives  us  some  idea  of  the  work  doing  by 
Baptists  in  journalism.  Of  American 
Baptist  religious  papers,  “  The  Exam¬ 
iner,”  of  New  York,  “  The  Watchman,” 
of  Boston,  “The  Commonwealth,”  of 
Philadelphia,  “  The  Journal  and  Messen¬ 
ger,”  of  Cincinnati,  “  The  Standard,”  of 
Chicago,  “  The  Christian  Herald,”  of  De¬ 
troit,  “The  Pacific  Baptist,”  of  Portland, 
“  The  Central  Baptist,”  of  St.  Louis, 
“The  Religious  Herald,”  of  Richmond, 
and  “The  Baptist  Courier,”  of  Greenville, 
S.  C.,  are  among  the  most  prominent  and 
influential,  each  an  honored  instrument  in 
God’s  hand  for  the  spiritual  edification  of 
the  church  and  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 


Zin  UnDirect  IRelationsbip 


Reducing  the  reading  matter  of  Baptist 
papers  to  i8mo  volumes  of  three  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  pages,  we  should  have  ac¬ 
cording  to  a  reliable  statistician’s  calcula¬ 
tion,  no  fewer  than  four  million  volumes 
yearly  sent  out  from  Baptist  presses. 
These  facts  are  as  astonishing  as  they  are 
gratifying. 

We  have  thus  far  reviewed  the  direct 
relation  of  Baptists  to  the  world’s  litera¬ 
ture — to  the  sacred  text,  to  sermons,  to 
theological  and  religious  works,  to  biogra¬ 
phy,  history,  and  poetry,  to  literary,  lin¬ 
guistic,  and  scientific  productions,  and 
finally  to  religious  journalism.  We  come 
now  to  consider  briefly  the  indirect  rela¬ 
tion  of  our  denomination  to  the  world  of 
letters. 

What  do  we  mean  by  this  indirect  in¬ 
fluence  ?  This  :  The  literature  that  has 
been  produced  by  Baptists 
through  others  of  a  differ- 
ent  communion,  or  in  other 
words,  the  literature  for  which  the  world 
is  largely  indebted,  not  to  Baptist  pens,  but 
to  Baptist  thought  and  influence.  This 

in 


^Baptists  anO  Xiterature 


relation  is  manifold,  touching,  as  it  does, 
varied  and  various  spheres.  We  have 
time  on  this  occasion  to  look  into  a  few 
only  of  the  many  points  that  might  legiti¬ 
mately  come  under  this  head. 

There  are  three  grand  tenets  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  taught  by  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
which  during  the  Dark  Ages  of  the  church 
appear  to  have  been  lost,  and  in  the  res¬ 
toration  of  which  to  the  church  Baptists 
claim  to  have  been  potentially  instru¬ 
mental.  If  this  claim  is  well  founded,  it 
follows  that  indirectly  Baptists  sustain  a 
most  intimate  relation  to  all  the  literature 
produced  during  the  past  century  or  so  in 
defense  of  these  doctrines.  This  point 
deserves  careful  thought. 

What  are  the  three  doctrines  to  which 
reference  is  here  made  ?  These  :  A  popu¬ 
lar  form  of  church  government,  a  divine 
call  to  the  ministry,  and  freedom  of  con¬ 
science  in  matters  of  religion.  What  is 
the  part  that  Baptists  have  performed  by 
their  thought,  speech,  and  action,  in  re¬ 
storing  to  the  church,  after  their  apparent 
loss,  these  three  apostolic  teachings  ? 


Bn  Indirect  IRelationsbip 


Look  first  at  the  popular  form  of  church 
government.  The  ablest  of  church  his¬ 
torians  are  a  unit  in  the  teaching  that  a 
hierarchy,  with  different  orders  of  minis¬ 
try,  was  not  the  original  form  of  the 
church.  D’Aubigne  represents  the  mo#st 
intelligent  ecclesiastical  conviction  regard¬ 
ing  this  matter  when  he  says,  “  The 
church  was,  in  the  beginning,  a  commu¬ 
nity  of  brethren,  but  in  the  gradual  pro¬ 
gress  of  the  centuries  this  plant  reached 
such  gigantic  proportions  that  in  the  Mid¬ 
dle  Ages  it  brooded  in  one  dense  shadow 
over  Christendom.”  Now,  while  the 
leaders  of  the  Reformation  scarcely 
touched  the  fundamental  principles  of 
church  government,  the  Baptists  firmly 
held  that  “  all  the  members  of  the  house¬ 
hold  of  faith  form  a  brotherhood  and  stand 
upon  the  footing  of  essential  equality.” 
We  are  all  acquainted  with  the  reported 
saying  of  Jefferson,  that  he  considered 
the  Baptist  church  a  typical  democracy. 
This  teaching  of  brotherhood  and  equality 
once  marked  us  as  a  separate  and  peculiar 
people. 

H  113 


baptists  anD  Xiterature 


Again,  as  to  a  divine  call  to  the  minis¬ 
try.  Years  ago  Baptists  stood  almost,  if 
not  entirely,  alone  in  the  advocacy  of  the 
doctrine  that  “  no  one  had  a  scriptural 
right  to  exercise  the  functions  of  the 
sacred  office  excepting  those  who  were 
called  of  God,  as  Aaron  was.”  History 
recites  the  fact  that  some  hundred  years 
ago  all  New  England  was  excited  to  in¬ 
dignation  because,  forsooth,  Whitfield  had 
uttered  the  words,  “  An  unconverted  min¬ 
istry  is  the  bane  of  the  church  ”  ;  and 
that  Gilbert  Tennent  was  scoffed  at  for 
preaching  and  publishing  a  sermon  on 
“  The  Dangers  of  an  Unconverted  Minis¬ 
try.”  Baptists,  however,  have  always 
maintained  that  something  more  is  needed 
for  this  onerous,  heaven-imposed  office 
than  hereditary  right,  or  social  position,  or 
intellectual  attainments,  that  each  am¬ 
bassador  of  God  must  have  the  Spirit  of 
God  and  a  divine  call  to  dedicate  his  best 
gifts  to  the  exalted  vocation. 

Further,  as  to  freedom  of  conscience  in 
matters  of  religion.  It  was  once  regarded 

by  the  Christian  church  to  be  a  right  of 

114 


Bn  InDlrect  IRelationebip 

civil  government  to  make  and  impose  ec¬ 
clesiastical  laws.  Even  so  good  and  dis¬ 
tinguished  a  man  as  the  great  Scotch  Re¬ 
former,  Knox,  is  reported  to  have  taught 
that  any  one  opposing  this  idea  should  be 
punished  with  the  sword.  How  do  Bap¬ 
tists  stand,  how  have  Baptists  always 
stood,  in  relation  to  the  unscriptural  view? 
In  the  language  of  the  noted  John  Locke, 
we  answer,  “  Baptists,  from  the  begin¬ 
ning,  were  the  friends  and  advocates  of 
absolute  liberty — just  and  true  liberty — 
equal  and  impartial  liberty.”  Schaff  in 
his  “Creeds  of  Christendom,”  declares 
that  “  the  large  and  most  respectable  de¬ 
nomination  of  Baptists  took  its  rise  in  the 
great  religious  commotion  of  England  dur¬ 
ing  the  seventeenth  century,  and  differed 
from  the  Puritans  only  in  the  doctrine  of 
baptism  and  in  the  steadfast  advocacy  of 
religious  freedom  ”  ;  and  that  “  their  ear¬ 
liest  publications  were  pleas  for  liberty  of 
conscience.”  Were  it  necessary  here, 
the  latter  statement  of  this  distinguished 
author  could  be  easily  corroborated  and 
illustrated  by  the  records  of  Swiss  Ana- 

115 


baptists  anD  Xiterature 


baptists,  and  English  and  American  Bap¬ 
tists,  by  the  famous  letter  of  Grebel, 
Manz,  and  others,  to  MUnster,  by  Leon¬ 
ard  Busher’s  “  Religious  Peace, ”  by  the 
Confession  of  1644,  by  the  Orthodox 
Creed  of  1678,  and  by  the  no  uncertain 
words  and  acts  of  Roger  Williams  and 
his  denominational  descendants.  It  was 
Dutch  Anabaptists  who,  in  1573,  secured 
of  William  the  Silent  soul-liberty  for  Hol¬ 
land. 

Now,  what  is  the  present  position  of  the 
Christian  world  on  these  three  questions 

— Popular  Church  Govern- 

Ub«r®«e"tton8  ment-  Divine  Cal1  t0  the 

Ministry,  Religious  Liberty  ? 
In  regard  to  the  first  of  these  there  has 
been  great  advance  toward  its  restora¬ 
tion,  while  the  last  two  doctrines  are 
almost  universally,  if  not  universally, 
held  and  advocated  among  evangelical 
Christians.  What  has  wrought  the 
change  ?  We  answer  in  all  humility,  yet 
with  a  firm  conviction  of  its  truth,  in  no 
small  degree  Baptist  thought  and  speech 

and  writings.  Many  and  notable  are 

1 16 


Closing  'UGlorbs 


the  works  of  Freedom  of  Conscience  and 
Call  to  the  Ministry  that  are  issuing  year 
after  year  from  the  pens  of  learned  con¬ 
stituents  of  other  communions  than  our 
own,  which  two  centuries  ago  were  either 
silent  upon,  or  opposed  to,  these  impor¬ 
tant  truths  ;  and  for  such  literature  the 
Christian  world  is  largely  indebted  to  that 
people  who,  in  all  their  checkered  history 
have  contended  earnestly  for  the  faith 
once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints,  and 
proved  themselves  always  and  every¬ 
where  the  uncompromising  advocates  of  a 
pure  gospel  and  an  apostolic  church. 

What  more  shall  we  say  on  this  in¬ 
spiring  theme  ?  That  in  the  literature 
of  the  English  tongue  God 

,  .  f  ,  ; ?  ,  Closing  1Clort>s 

has  given  to  our  fathers  and 
brethren  so  exalted  and  noble  a  place 
should  call  forth  from  the  whole  Bap¬ 
tist  brotherhood  thanksgiving  profound 
and  constant.  In  humility  and  joyous¬ 
ness  of  soul  we  record  our  gratitude  at 
this  hour  for  this  one  token  of  divine 

favor  ;  gratitude  for  men  like  Judson  and 

117 


^Baptists  anD  Xiterature 


Carey  and  Marshman,  Brown  and  Mason 
and  Buckner,  with  all  their  consecrated 
and  successful  labor  in  Bible  translation  ; 
for  the  biblical  lore  of  Gill  and  Ripley, 
Clarke  and  Haldane,  Weston  and  Broadus; 
for  the  linguistic  attainments  of  Hackett 
and  Conant,  Green,  Lincoln,  and  Ken¬ 
drick  ;  for  the  clear  and  massive  theolog¬ 
ical  teaching  of  Fuller  and  Hovey,  John¬ 
son  and  Strong  ;  for  the  preaching  power 
of  Spurgeon  and  Evans,  Robinson  and 
McLaren,  Hall  and  Fuller ;  for  the  schol¬ 
arly  productions  of  Foster  and  Matthews 
and  Williams,  and  the  learned  disquisitions 
of  Wayland  and  Dagg  ;  for  the  historical 
researches  of  Keach  and  Orchard  and 
Benedict  and  Robinson  ;  for  the  poetical 
genius  of  Milton  and  Fawcett  and  S.  F. 
Smith  ;  for  the  scientific  treatises  of 
Loomis  and  Olney,  Barnes  and  Clarke  ; 
for  the  strong  defense  of  Baptist  princi¬ 
ples  and  practices  from  the  pens  of  such 
men  as  Carson  and  Gill  and  Mell  and 
Cathcart ;  and  along  with  this,  the  expo¬ 
sure  of  ecclesiastical  and  theological  error 

by  such  lovers  of  truth  as  Godwin  and 

1 18 


Closing  HOorOs 


Dowling,  Holcombe  and  Andrews ;  and 
last,  for  the  sweet,  elevating,  and  ennob¬ 
ling  writings  of  Bunyan  and  Spurgeoh, 
and  an  innumerable  host  of  others,  who 
though  of  our  communion,  have  sent  out 
their  works  among  all  nations  to  the  glory 
of  God,  the  comfort  of  the  saints,  and  the 
uplift  of  the  race. 

Baptists  do  not  themselves  sufficiently 
realize  or  appreciate  the  service  they  have 
rendered  to  the  world  in  their  advocacy  of 
principles  upon  which  others  were  silent, 
and  which  they  were  the  first  to  espouse. 
Perhaps  more  than  one  have  asked  why 
such  a  position  was  taken  by  them.  Has 
it  been  because  they  were  better  than 
others  ?  Has  it  been  because  they  were 
more  intellectual  and  farther-visioned  than 
others  ?  Has  it  been  because  they  have 
loved  their  fellows  more  than  others? 
Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  of  these 
things  is  true.  Is  it  not  then  because,  and 
solely  because,  of  their  loyalty  to  God’s 
word  ?  The  principles  they  have  defended, 
and  for  which  they  have  suffered,  are  in 
that  word — confessedly  so  by  others  than 

XI9 


^Saptiets  anD  Xtterature 


Baptists  now.  Is  their  position  not  a  confir¬ 
mation  of  the  passage,  “them  that  honour 
me  I  will  honour  ?  ”  Baptists  honored 
God’s  word,  and  along  the  lines  indicated 
he  has  given  them  the  pre-eminence. 
One  is  exhorted  not  to  think  of  himself 
above  what  he  ought  to  think.  But  per¬ 
haps  he  fails  no  less  when  he  does  not 
credit  himself  with  that  which  belongs  to 
him.  It  is  well,  at  least,  for  Baptists  to 
realize  the  heritage  by  which  they  are 
enriched. 


120 


THE  CENTRAL  THEME  OF  THE 
CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY 


Inaugural  (Address  upon  assuming  the  pastorate  of 
the  First  'Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia 
(March  29,  1896 


IV 

A  SUGGESTIVE  remark  it  is  of  Pascal, 

that  the  notable  men  of  the  world’s 

life  move  and  shine  in  three 

. .  j  .  ...  Ubree  ©rblts 

distinct  and  glorious  orbits — 

the  orbit  of  heroism,  the  orbit  of  intellec¬ 
tuality,  and  the  orbit  of  personal  moral 
worth.  As  intelligent  students  of  history 
we  must  be  impressed  with  the  many  il¬ 
lustrations  of  this  truth.  In  the  first  orbit 
we  note  the  Caesars,  the  Charlemagnes, 
the  Napoleons  of  history — men  of  mighty 
military  prowess  and  splendid  martial 
achievements.  In  the  second,  we  mark 
the  Platos  and  the  Homers,  the  Senecas 
and  the  Bacons  of  the  different  ages — 
men  of  genuine  mental  worth  and  vast 
range  of  intellectual  power.  In  the  third 
sphere,  standing  out  in  consummate  glory 
are  the  Martyns,  the  Wilberforces,  the 
Judsons,  and  the  Careys  of  history — men 

whose  chief  excellency  consists,  not  in 

123 


XTbe  Gbeme  of  tbe  Christian  flHintetr^ 


heroism  as  the  world  counts  the  hero,  nor 
in  mere  intellectuality,  but  rather  in  a 
sublime  renunciation  of  self,  a  passionate 
love  of  God  and  a  Christlike  devotion  to 
the  highest  interests  of  their  fellows — 
men  who,  now  as  missionaries,  now  as 
martyrs,  now  as  philanthropists,  now  as 
teachers,  go  up  and  down  our  earth  il¬ 
lustrating  what  the  poet  sings  : 

To  honor  God,  to  benefit  mankind, 

To  serve  with  lowly  gifts  the  little  needs 
Of  the  poor  race  for  which  the  God-man  died, 
And  do  it  all  for  love — ah  !  this  is  great, 

And  he  who  does  this  will  achieve  a  name 
Not  only  great,  but  good. 

Now  it  is  in  this  last  orbit — to  use  the 
figure  of  our  Christian  philosopher — that 
there  moves  and  shines  in 
“  conspicuous  splendor  the 
Apostle  Paul,  whom,  in  this 
inspiring  presence  to-day,  I  would  take  as 
an  inspiration  and  pattern.  Though  a 
magnificent  hero  whom  the  world  strove 
in  vain  to  bend  or  conquer,  revealing  ele¬ 
ments  of  will  and  cpurage  such  as  have 

been  exhibited  by  few  whose  deeds  of 

124 


Zbe  ©tbit  of  fl>aul 


daring  have  been  told  in  classic  story  or 
on  the  more  sober  pages  of  prosaic  his¬ 
tory  ;  though  a  superb  intellectual  poten¬ 
tate  whose  thoughts  and  words,  from  the 
day  of  his  speech  on  Mars  Hill  even  to 
the  present  hour,  have  stirred  mankind 
as  the  teachings  of  Greek  and  Roman 
philosophers  have  had  no  power  to  do, 
still  neither  heroism,  in  the  popular  sense 
of  that  word,  nor  mere  intellectuality,  is 
the  distinguishing  mark  of  Paul’s  char¬ 
acter  and  life,  after  the  one  has  become 
renewed  and  the  other  remodeled  by  the 
spirit  of  God.  His  is  a  loftier  differen¬ 
tiating  characteristic.  Self-renunciation, 
self-sacrifice,  self-immolation  even  ;  and 
this  illustrated,  not  as  in  Marcus  Curtius  at 
the  Roman  Forum  or  in  Arnold  Winkelried 
in  the  presence  of  a  serried  line  of  oppos¬ 
ing  spearsmen,  but  as  in  the  self-denying 
Lord  of  light  and  glory,  who,  though  he 
was  rich,  for  our  sakes  became  poor ;  self- 
renunciation  and  self-immolation  for  God’s 
highest  glory  and  humanity’s  highest 
good  ;  this,  than  which  there  can  be  re¬ 
vealed  in  human  character  nothing  nobler, 

125 


Gbe  £beme  of  tbe  Christian  fultnistcg 


nothing  more  Godlike,  stands  out  in  bold 
relief  as  the  master  impulse  and  the  sub- 
limest  motive  power  of  our  noble  apostle. 
It  is  this  man  who,  surpassing  Wilber- 
force  or  Howard  in  the  depth  and  extent 
and  beneficence  of  his  philanthropy,  could 
look  out  upon  his  nation  and  exclaim,  “  I 
could  wish  myself  accursed  from  Christ 
for  my  brethren,  my  kinsmen  according 
to  the  flesh,’ ’  and  then  look  up  to  heaven, 
and  with  ecstasy  declare,  “  I  count  all 
things  lost  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  my 
Lord.” 

The  difference  between  Paul  and  many 
others  of  his  day  who  approached  him 
most  nearly  in  the  vigor  and  supremacy 
of  their  powers  and  in  the  faculty  for  ap¬ 
prehending  and  communicating  truths,  was 
not,  as  another  has  said,  so  much  a  differ¬ 
ence  of  degree  as  of  kind  ;  not  simply  the 
difference  “between  fluent  water  and 
crystal  ice,  between  the  small  mountain 
and  the  mighty  Matterhorn,  between  the 
circumscribed  lake  and  the  boundless 

ocean,  but  the  more  essential,  intrinsic, 

1 26 


M  IRoble  ^Utterance 


remarkable  difference  of  personal  moral 
elements — the  difference  between  the  star 
and  the  lighthouse,  nay,  between  light  it¬ 
self  and  the  darkness  which  contrasts  it.” 
The  fact  is,  Paul  stood  on  a  higher  ped¬ 
estal,  breathed  a  purer  atmosphere,  was 
inspired  by  a  holier,  diviner  spirit  than 
any  of  his  competitors  or  coadjutors.  In 
a  peculiar,  unique  sense,  for  him  to  live 
was  Christ. 

Now  one  of  the  noblest  utterances  of 
this  noble  ambassador  of  the  cross  appeals 
to  your  pastor  to-day  as  he 
stands  on  the  threshold  of  a 
new  relationship  with  you, 
and  has  been  chosen  by  him  as  his  pas¬ 
toral  motto,  “  I  determined  not  to  know 
anything  among  you  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified.”  Where  find  you  a 
more  beautiful  exhibition,  a  more  attractive 
illustration  of  pure,  absolute  self-forget¬ 
fulness,  linked  with  a  consuming  devotion 
to  Jesus  Christ  and  his  redemptive  cross 
than  is  furnished  in  this  weighty  expres¬ 
sion  of  deep  conviction  and  intense  re¬ 
ligious  fervor  ?  Recall  the  circumstances 

127 


m  moble 
■(Utterance 


£be  fTbeme  of  tbc  Christian  ministry 


amid  which  it  is  uttered  ;  they  invest  the 
apostolic  words  with  singular  force.  Paul 
is  here  addressing  the  Corinthian  church, 
extraordinarily  heterogeneous  and  pain¬ 
fully  divided — a  people  craving  an  exhibi¬ 
tion  on  his  part  of  worldly  wisdom  and 
philosophical  speculation — nay,  a  people 
among  many  of  whom  the  gospel  in  its 
purity  was  an  unwelcome  evangel  and 
Golgotha’s  brow  a  rock  of  offense.  And 
yet  his  message  among  these  surround¬ 
ings  is — what  ?  An  appeal  to  intellectual, 
social,  or  aesthetic  taste  ?  A  proclama¬ 
tion  looking  toward  self-exaltation  or  self- 
interest  ?  A  word  shaped  to  please  rather 
than  probe  a  people  proud  with  philosophy  ? 
Far  from  it.  His  attitude  is  diametrically 
opposite.  Commissioned  of  God  to  preach 
the  gospel  in  the  fullness  and  supremacy 
of  its  truth  and  power,  Paul  appears  to 
sink  self  out  of  sight,  and,  standing  on 
the  high  levels  of  divine  life,  with  mind 
and  spirit  quickened  and  eyes  drinking  in 
with  delight  inexpressible  the  infinite 
glories  of  Calvary,  proclaims  the  un¬ 
searchable  riches  of  grace  centered  in 

128 


B  Single  purpose 


and  flowing  out  of  an  ever-blessed  Re¬ 
deemer.  Brethren,  the  picture  is  mag¬ 
nificent.  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified 
was  to  the  proud,  ritualistic  Jew  a  stum¬ 
bling-block,  and  to  the  scholarly,  cultured 
Greek  the  very  consummation  of  foolish¬ 
ness  ;  but  yet  here  in  Corinth — great,  re¬ 
fined,  wicked  Corinth,  made  up  of  Jews 
and  Greeks,  the  man  of  God  plants  his 
banner  and  points  to  its  inscription,  em¬ 
blazoned  in  letters  of  gold,  aye,  of  blood, 
“  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified. ”  “God 
forbid,”  he  exultantly  exclaims,  “that  I 
should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord, 
Jesus  Christ.” 

Analyzing  these  words  of  the  text  as 
expressive  of  Paul’s  great  purpose  and 
motive  power  in  life,  certain  features  im¬ 
press  us,  and  impress  us  deeply. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  a  single  purpose, 
an  all-absorbing  determination,  that  here 
thrills  and  moves  our  de- 
voted  apostle.  “I  deter-  ®®‘"o«1ce 
mined  not  to  know  anything 
save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.”  It 

is  said  of  Wordsworth  that  when  engaged 
i  129 


Gbe  Gbeme  ot  tbe  Christian  flilinistrs 


in  writing  his  “  Excursion,”  one  thing 
covered  the  whole  range  of  his  thought. 
More  may  be  said  of  Paul  :  one  thing 
covers  the  whole  range  of  his  being — 
thoughts,  words,  acts — and  that  is  the  re¬ 
demption  through  Christ.  This  great, 
ennobling  truth  of  the  cross  fills  his  very 
consciousness,  stirs  the  very  depths  of  his 
inmost  soul,  constrains  him,  drives  to  the 
proclamation  ever  of  that  grandest  and 
most  marvelous  fact  in  all  divine  and 
human  history,  God  in  Christ  reconciling 
the  world  unto  himself,’  not  through  a 
strange,  mysterious  incarnation,  though 
Christ  was  “God  manifest  in  the  flesh,” 
nor  through  the  illumination  of  matchless 
doctrine,  though  of  Christ  it  was  said, 
“Never  man  spake  like  this  man,”  nor 
through  the  glory  of  spotless  character, 
though  Christ  “knew  no  sin,  neither  was 
guile  found  in  his  mouth,”  nor  through 
the  majesty  of  miraculous  deeds,  though 
Christ  cured  the  sick  and  healed  the  blind 
and  raised  the  dead,  but  God  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself  through 

the  blood  of  a  transcendent,  an  all-suffi- 

130 


B  Single  lpurpoee 


cient,  an  unrepeatable  atonement  for 
human  redemption — Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified. 

This,  I  say,  was  the  keynote  of  Paul’s 
preaching,  and  its  power  too.  Much  of 
the  preaching  in  our  day,  even  in  evan¬ 
gelical  pulpits,  is  struck  to  a  lower  key. 
It  is  Christ  to  be  sure,  but  not  Christ 
crucified.  It  deals  much  with  the  life  of 
Christ,  in  its  tender  human  sympathies — 
the  Christ  whose  face  was  sculptured 
benevolence,  whose  hand  was  friendship’s 
symbol,  whose  eye  was  liquid  sympathy 
for  all  human  burdens  and  woes  ;  much 
with  the  works  of  Christ  as  the  pattern 
and  inspiration  of  all  helpful  doing  ;  much 
with  the  words  of  Christ  as  a  divine  phi¬ 
losophy,  with  heights  to  which  no  human 
imagination  has  ascended,  and  depths 
which  no  human  plummet  has  fathomed, 
and  breadths  which  no  human  mind  has 
compassed. 

Now,  these  are  well  enough  in  their 
place,  but  they  are  not  central  and  funda¬ 
mental.  They  are  incidental  rather  than 
essential,  ephemeral  rather  than  eternal, 


{The  ^berne  of  the  Christian  ministry 


facts  rather  than  truths,  mere  clippings, 
as  it  were,  from  the  grand  corner-stone 
on  which  is  reared  the  everlasting  and 
everglorious  superstructure  of  divine  glory 
and  human  redemption.  The  cross  is  the 
central  truth  of  the  gospel  ;  Paul  recog¬ 
nizes  it,  and  hence  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified  becomes  the  single,  all-absorbing, 
all-animating  theme  of  his  heart  and  life, 
that  which  satisfies  his  own  soul  and 
thrills  with  ecstatic  delight  the  longing 
multitudes  that  hear  his  words  of  life, 
becoming  unto  them,  believing,  the  very 
power  of  God  unto  salvation.  To  him,  as 
never  to  Constantine,  had  the  vision  ap¬ 
peared,  “  By  this  sign  thou  shalt  con¬ 
quer.” 

It  is  interesting,  brethren,  to  study  the 
recorded  history  of  Paul  with  a  view  to 
see  how  Jesus  Christ  pervades  his  whole 
thought  and  being.  From  the  moment  of 
his  conversion  to  the  hour  of  his  death 
‘‘one  increasing  purpose  ran  through  his 
career,  gathering  force  and  volume  as  it 
ran,  namely,  that  he  might  serve  Christ, 

know  Christ,  become  like  Christ.”  The 

132 


B  Single  purpose 

Apostle  John  is  full  of  love;  the  Apostle 
James,  of  good  works ;  the  Apostle  Peter, 
of  faith ;  the  Apostle  Paul,  of  him  for 
whom  should  be  all  human  love  and  faith 
and  works,  Jesus,  the  Crucified.  You 
must  have  noted  this  in  reading  the  book 
of  Acts  and  the  matchless  Pauline  Epistles, 
how  all  Paul’s  preaching,  all  his  discus¬ 
sions,  all  his  defenses,  all  his  writings,  all 
his  conduct,  even  his  denunciations  and 
exorcisms,  point  directly  to  Christ.  In¬ 
deed,  it  passed  into  a  proverb,  so  that 
the  vagabond  Jew  exorcists  said  to  the 
evil  spirits,  “We  adjure  you  by  the  Je¬ 
sus  that  Paul  preacheth.”  The  disciples 
were  first  called  Christians,  where  ?  At 
Antioch,  where  Paul  preached.  “Not  at 
the  holy  city  that  reclined  on  the  slopes 
of  Mt.  Zion,  but  in  the  pagan  town  that 
lay  on  the  northern  side  of  Mt.  Sylphius  ; 
not  by  the  Jordan  which  had  parted  its 
waters  at  the  pressure  of  the  ark,  but  by 
the  Orontes,  the  banks  of  which  were 
disgraced  by  heathen  legends  and  prac¬ 
tices  ;  not  on  the  spot  where  three  thou¬ 
sand  in  one  day  were  added  to  the  church, 

I33 


£be  Gbeme  of  tbe  Cbrietian  ftlinistrg 


but  where  luxury  and  dissipation  held 
perpetual  sway.”  Here  men  were  first 
called  Christians,  where  Paul  preached 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.  This 
is  wonderful.  The  ambitious  student  of 
Gamaliel,  the  cruel  witness  of  Stephen’s 
shameless  and  shameful  martyrdom,  the 
fiery  and  self-righteous  zealot  of  Phari- 
seeism,  who  in  the  past  had  breathed 
out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against 
defenseless  disciples  and  made  havoc  of 
the  church  of  Jesus,  has  been  conquered 
and  won  over  by  this  same  Jesus,  and  he 
alone  can  be  the  God  of  his  life.  Marvel¬ 
ous  change  !  He  has  entirely  changed 
front !  Henceforth  his  face  is  toward, 
not  Jerusalem,  but  Calvary  —  not  the 
stirring  synagogue,  but  the  empty  tomb  ! 

Do  you  ask  the  reason  of  the  change, 
so  radical,  so  deeply  wrought  ?  Go  back 
in  our  apostle’s  history  a  few 
years-  1°  an  earlier  time  a 
strange  thing  had  occurred 
in  the  history  of  this  man.  On  his  way 
to  Damascus  one  day  he  saw  a  vision,  he 
heard  a  voice,  he  beheld  a  light,  and  that 

i34 


Gbe  Bpostle’s  IHtstors 

vision,  voice,  and  light — outward  seals  of 
an  inward  revelation  ensphered  in  his 
spirit — were  more  than  stamped  on  his 
memory  ;  they  were  burned  into  the  very 
core  of  his  existence,  and  their  influence 
pervaded  his  whole  being  as  light  and 
heat  pervade  the  surroundings  of  fire. 
For  three  days  he  saw  nothing,  heard 
nothing,  tasted  nothing  but  the  Lord 
Jesus.  For  three  years,  immediately  suc¬ 
ceeding,  during  a  portion  of  which  time 
he  retired  into  Arabia,  without  conferring 
with  flesh  and  blood,  he  was  doubtless 
wrapped  up  in  the  study  and  adoration  of 
this  new  God  of  his  life.  And  now, 
henceforth,  wherever  he  goes,  whatever 
he  does,  that  name  is  the  inspiration  of 
his  powers.  Whether  in  the  great  center 
of  religious  truth,  Jerusalem,  or  in  the 
extreme  limits  of  his  missionary  field 
among  the  heathen  ;  whether  in  the  syna¬ 
gogue  of  the  Jews  or  in  the  schoolhouse 
of  the  Greeks ;  whether  locked  up  in 
prison  or  tossed  about  on  the  sea ; 
whether  beaten  with  stripes  or  extolled 
as  a  god  ;  whether  in  barbarous  Lystra, 

G5 


£be  flbeme  of  tbe  Cbdsttan  ministry 


or  elegant  Athens,  or  cultured  Corinth  ; 
whether  in  the  flood-tide  of  success  or 
offered  a  victim  on  the  altar  of  martyr¬ 
dom — everywhere  the  cross  shines  before 
him  in  resplendent  glory,  his  light  in 
darkness,  solace  in  perplexity,  peace  in 
death. 

The  light  not  vainly  glowed 
On  that  Damascus  road  ; 

Oh  !  not  for  naught  that  Voice  Divine  was 
heard ; 

The  foeman  was  o’erthrown, 

The  champion  made  thine  own 

When  right  against  thee  in  hot  haste  he  spurred, 
Then  streamed  forth,  the  world  to  win, 

The  mighty  burning  flame  of  love  which  hate  had 
been. 

Henceforth  Saul  of  Tarsus  takes  his 
stand,  not  at  Bethlehem,  though  there 
became  incarnate  the  Ancient  of  Days, 
nor  at  Bethany,  though  there  omnific 
power  raised  the  dead,  nor  at  Capernaum, 
though  in  its  synagogue  taught  the  great 
Teacher  of  the  ages,  but  by  the  cross  of 
Calvary  where  was  shed  once  for  all  the 
redemptive  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  ! 
Christ  and  him  crucified  becomes  now  and 

1 36 


B  IKeroic  purpose 


forever  “the  theme  of  his  preaching,  the 
burden  of  his  service,  the  ground  of  his 
boast,  the  source  of  his  inspiration,  the 
foundation  of  his  hopes,  the  occupant  of 
his  heart,  and  the  law  of  his  life. ? ?  Two 
things,  once  exclaimed  Goethe,  awaken 
sublimity  within  me — the  starry  heavens 
and  man’s  moral  nature.  Two  things  Paul 
might  have  exclaimed,  awaken  enthusi¬ 
asm  within  me — the  cross  of  Jesus  and 
man’s  moral  nature  redeemed  and  ele¬ 
vated  by  its  divine  influence  and  power. 

Again,  it  is  a  bold,  heroic  purpose  that 
here  inspires  our  apostle.  Sometimes, 
when  in  search  for  examples 
of  heroism,  we  bring  before  ^^p^0 
our  minds  such  scenes  as 
Chrysostom  before  Eudoxia,  or  Athanasius 
before  Constantine  in  the  streets  of  Con¬ 
stantinople,  or  Ambrose  before  Theodosius 
in  the  porch  of  Milan  cathedral,  or  Savon¬ 
arola  before  Lorenzo,  or  Luther  at  Worms  ; 
but,  to  my  mind,  the  annals  of  human 
history  present  us  but  few  grander  pic¬ 
tures  of  boldness  of  purpose,  stability  of 
character,  independence  of  soul,  moral 

i37 


Z be  ftbeme  of  tbe  Christian  fiHinistr^ 


heroism,  than  the  one  in  the  text :  such  a 
a  man  as  Paul  at  such  a  time  as  this,  de¬ 
claring  such  words  as  these ;  a  man, 
almost  friendless  and  alone — behind  him 
Athens  and  its  skepticism  and  Philippi  and 
its  scourgings  ;  before  him  martyrdom  for 
the  sake  of  truth  ;  about  him  a  city  where 
human  wisdom  is  exalted,  the  cross  de¬ 
spised,  and  its  victim  hated  ;  and  yet,  bold 
as  a  lion,  his  face  turns  still  toward  Cal¬ 
vary,  and  his  voice  still  lifts  up  the  cry  : 
“  I  determined  to  know  nothing  among 
you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.” 
How  grandly  Paul  actualizes  in  his  superb 
attitude  here  the  poet’s  conception  : 

As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form 
Swells  from  the  vale  and  midway  leaves  the 
storm, 

Though  round  its  head  the  rolling  clouds  are 
spread, 

Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head. 

Ah  !  this  is  the  man  that  for  the  gospel 
of  the  cross  can  sacrifice  the  pride  of  birth 
and  position  and  learning  and  religion  to 
join  himself  to  a  despised  sect,  be  stoned 
at  Lystra,  assaulted  at  Iconium,  attacked 

138 


B  IRattonal  purpose 


at  Ephesus  ;  can  reprove  the  ruler  who 
holds  his  life  in  his  hands,  pronounce  ter¬ 
rible  anathemas  against  the  corrupters  of 
the  gospel,  preach  the  truth  in  the  house¬ 
hold  of  brutal  Nero,  and  at  last  await  the 
martyr’s  death  with  the  calm,  brave 
words:  “I  am  ready  to  be  offered.” 
Heroic  soul  !  Well  deservest  thou  the 
crown  which  now  thou  dost  wear  in  glory 
amid  the  ineffable  splendors  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  ! 

More  still :  Not  only  is  the  purpose  of 
the  text  single,  all-absorbing,  and  heroic, 
it  is  also  rational,  well- 
grounded,  and  divinely  Bp*apt‘o0"al 
guided.  Our  apostle  was 
always  intelligent  in  his  utterances.  His 
emotions  never  ran  away  with  his  judg¬ 
ment  ;  his  knowledge  and  zeal  kept  equal 
pace.  His  naturally  superb  powers  were 
quickened  by  grace  in  all  their  parts.  His 
intellect  was  too  vast  to  be  cramped  in 
any  narrow  view  of  truth,  any  restricted 
range  of  sentiment,  any  circumscribed 
conception  of  Christianity.  And  when,  in 
the  text,  he  speaks  as  he  does,  he  utters 

i39 


tlbe  Gbeme  of  tbe  Christian  flilinistr^ 


no  language  of  fanaticism  or  ignorance, 
but  speaks  the  words  of  soberness  and 
truth,  of  intelligence  and  wisdom.  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified  is  the  central  and 
fundamental  and  energizing  truth  of  the 
Christian  system — not  Christ  the  perfect 
man,  nor  Christ  the  elevating  teacher, 
nor  Christ  the  self-sacrificing  philanthro¬ 
pist,  but  Christ  “  mighty  to  save  ”  through 
the  unlimited  power  of  his  redeeming 
blood.  For,  as  another  has  expressed  it, 
the  heart  of  the  gospel  is  redemption,  and 
the  essence  of  redemption  is  the  substitu¬ 
tionary  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Christianity’s  center  is  the  cross.  From 
this  scene  of  shame  and  glory,  anguish 
and  victory,  all  the  radii  of  the  gospel  go 
out  in  lines  of  living  light.  Redemption  is 
the  grand  principle  into  which  all  our  re¬ 
ligion — doctrinal,  experimental,  and  prac¬ 
tical — may  be  generalized.  There  is  no 
truth  in  revelation  that  does  not  point  to 
the  atoning  Son  of  God  ;  no  right  desire 
of  human  nature  that  does  not  meet  in 
him  ;  no  duty  in  life  of  which  he  is  not 

either  the  perfect  fulfillment  or  the  most 

140 


21  IRational  purpose 


cogent  incentive.  In  the  cross,  says  Spur¬ 
geon  truly,  man  may  behold  the  con¬ 
centration  of  eternal  thought,  the  focus 
of  infinite  purpose,  the  center  of  divine 
and  illimitable  wisdom  ;  for  Christ  cruci¬ 
fied  is  the  corner-stone  of  all  Christian 
creed  and  practice,  worship  and  discipline, 
union  and  extension. 

From  this  great  central  truth,  therefore, 
Paul  expands  his  intellect  in  every  direc¬ 
tion,  compassing  the  whole  circumference 
of  divine  revelation  from  the  eternal  de¬ 
crees  of  Jehovah  to  the  eternal  destiny  of 
the  human  soul. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  one  of  the 
most  comprehensive,  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians  one  of  the  most  complete,  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  emanations  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
through  the  human  mind  ;  and  the  center 
of  each,  the  inspiration  of  each,  is  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified.  The  wisdom  of 
Corinth  might  esteem  our  author  a  con¬ 
tracted  bigot,  and  Herod  himself  and 
Festus  sneer  at  him  as  “  mad,”  but  his 

was  the  most  expansive  philosophy,  the 

141 


Gbe  Gbeme  of  tbe  Christian  filllnistrs 


most  elevated  morality,  the  most  Godlike 
philanthropy,  and  the  most  genuine  piety 
the  world  had  ever  known,  as  taught  and 
illustrated  by  a  mere  man,  and  all  had  its 
source  and  power  in  the  simlpe  yet  sub¬ 
lime,  the  contemptible  yet  glorious,  the 
repulsive  yet  attractive,  doctrine  of  an  In¬ 
carnate  Christ  and  his  redemptive  cross. 

Let  us  look  more  carefully  and  minutely 
into  the  intelligence  of  Paul’s  position  in 
the  text.  Among  the  many  thoughts 
connected  with  the  cross  in  its  relation  to 
Christianity,  three  stand  out  in  bold 
relief : 

First,  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified  is 
pre-eminently  and  gloriously  a  Bible 
theme.  Mark,  I  do  not  say 
ubemcC  New  Testament,  but  Bible 
theme.  The  whole  word  of 
God  finds  its  central  doctrine  and  reaches 
its  most  glorious  culmination  in  the  person 
and  work  of  an  atoning  Redeemer.  It  is 
a  noted  saying  of  the  great  French 
preacher,  Massillon,  that  all  the  lines  of 
past  human  history  converge  in  Jesus, 

and  all  the  lines  of  history  to  come  diverge 

142 


U  m\)lc  tlbeme 


from  him.  With  equal  truth  we  may  say 
that  all  the  revelation  of  God  gathers  in 
and  about  the  crucified  Christ.  All  the 
older  revelation  points  to  him  and  centers 
in  him  ;  all  the  newer  revelation  proceeds 
from  him.  The  lines  of  God’s  eternal 
truth  cross  and  recross  in  him.  Here 
emphatically 

The  Old  Testament  is  the  New  Testament  con¬ 
cealed, 

The  New  Testament  is  the  Old  Testament  re¬ 
vealed. 

In  arguing  this  proposition,  we  need,  I 
think,  devote  no  time  to  proving  that  the 
cross  is  the  center  of  the  New  Testament 
teaching,  for  it  is  but  an  axiom  to  say  that 
Christ  crucified  is  the  heart  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  But  we  would  emphasize — be¬ 
cause  the  fact  is  not  sufficiently  realized — 
that  so  also  is  it  in  the  Old  Testament. 
He  reads  this  grand  old  book  amiss  who 
fails  to  see  running,  like  a  thread  of  gold, 
through  all  its  warp  and  woof,  through 
genealogy,  type,  prophecy,  psalm,  and 
history,  both  national  and  individual,  the 

M3 


Zhc  tTbeme  of  tbe  Christian  fMlinistn? 


glorious  doctrine  of  redemption  through  a 
future  Messiah,  slain  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  The  former  revelation  is 
the  shadow  of  that  of  which  the  latter  is 
the  substance,  the  illustration  of  that  of 
which  it  is  the  reality.  At  the  heart  of 
the  Old  dwells  the  glory  of  the  New,  “  as 
a  rich  jewel  may  flash  from  the  center  of 
a  curious,  antique  setting/’  We  mistake 
when  we  calculate  our  Christian  era  as 
only  two  thousand  years  old.  Christ  the 
eternal  Son,  lived  in  our  world  before  he 
was  born  into  our  world.  Eighteen  hun¬ 
dred  and  ninety  years  ago  he  was  born  of 
Mary,  but  six  thousand  years  ago  he  was 
born  in  human  hearts,  the  basis  and  center 
of  human  hopes.  As  Robertson  forcefully 
puts  it : 

The  eternal  Word  whispered  in  the  souls  of  men 
before  it  spoke  articulately  aloud  in  the  Incarnation. 
It  was  a  divine  thought  before  it  became  a  divine 
expression.  It  was  the  light  that  lighteth  every 
man  that  cometh  into  the  world  before  it  blazed 
into  the  dayspring  from  on  high  which  visited  us. 
The  mind  of  Christ — the  spirit  of  the  years  yet 
future — blended  itself  with  life  before  he  came,  for 
his  words  were  the  eternal  verities  of  our  humanity. 

144 


B  3Bible  tlbeme 


Eternally  Jesus  existed.  Abraham  saw 
his  day  and  rejoiced.  The  dying  Jacob 
hailed  him  as  Shiloh.  He  was  the  star  of 
Balaam’s  prophecy.  Job  beheld  him  as 
the  divine  Daysman,  laying  his  hand  on 
both  God  and  man.  He  was  the  branch 
of  Isaiah,  consumed  for  human  salvation. 
He  was  Micah’s  being  of  Pre-existence, 
and  Malachi’s  Angel  of  the  Covenant. 
Yea,  from  that  glad  day  when  Jehovah 
whispered  in  the  ear  of  Eve,  “  The  seed 
of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent’s 
head,”  even  down  to  the  hour  when 
angels  chanted  the  cradle  hymn  over  the 
new-born  babe  of  Bethlehem,  Christ  had 
lived  on  earth,  a  mighty,  though  invisible 
power,  inspiring  patriarchs  to  rejoice  in  his 
coming,  psalmists  to  sing  his  praises,  and 
prophets  to  ring  out  clarion  notes  in  honor 
of  his  name.  And  the  grand  climax  of 
all  this  Christ-teaching  in  the  older  revela¬ 
tion  is  contained  in  the  magnificent  and 
wondrous  language  of  the  fifth  evangelist, 
“  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions  ; 
he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities.  The 
chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him, 
k  145 


Gbe  fTbeme  of  tbc  Christian  fifllnlsttE 


and  by  his  stripes  we  are  healed.”  Christ 
the  Redeemer  not  in  the  Old  Testament ! 
As  well  tear  out  this  heart  from  my  breast 
and  call  my  body  a  living  being  as  extract 
Jesus  crucified  from  the  pages  of  this  old 
writing,  and  call  it  the  word  of  God. 
Beautifully  has  Bushnell  said  that  Christ 
is  the  Sun  to  hold  all  the  minor  orbs  of  rev¬ 
elation  in  their  places  and  power — a  sover¬ 
eign,  self-evidencing  light  into  all  religion. 

To  proclaim  then  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified,  is  to  proclaim  Bible  truth  in  its 
most  exalted  heights,  its  most  magnificent 
breadths,  its  most  unfathomable  depths. 
For  this  reason,  if  no  other,  Paul  was 
intelligent  in  the  position  he  takes  before 
the  Corinthians  ;  for  this  reason,  if  for  no 
other,  the  cross  may  well  be,  what  a  great 
mind  has  urged  that  it  be,  the  perpetual 
text  of  all  preaching,  the  perpetual  theme 
of  all  religionists,  the  unceasing  object 
of  all  devout  scholarship. 

In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory, 

Towering  o’er  the  wrecks  of  time, 

All  the  light  of  sacred  story, 

Gathers  round  its  head  sublime. 

146 


U  Consoling  IRevelation 


Further,  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified 
presents  the  truest,  the  most  authoritative, 
the  most  consoling  revelation 
of  God,  the  only  perfect  mir- 
ror  of  the  moral  and  affec¬ 
tionate  nature  of  the  Eternal  Father.  In¬ 
stinctively  the  human  heart  yearns  to 
know  God.  “  Shew  us  the  Father  and  it 
suffices  us,”  is  as  truly  the  cry  of  univer¬ 
sal  humanity  as  of  the  ancient  disciple, 
Philip.  And  yet  when  men  try  to  grasp 
God  in  the  abstract,  as  a  purely  spiritual, 
invisible,  intangible  Being,  the  conception 
is  altogether  unsatisfactory.  The  idea  is 
too  sublime  and  awful,  if  not  too  vague. 
We  recall  the  oft-quoted  passage  from  Ma¬ 
caulay  : 

Logicians  may  reason  about  abstractions,  but 
the  great  mass  of  mankind  never  feel  the  least  in¬ 
terest  in  them.  They  must  have  images.  God, 
the  uncreated,  the  invisible,  the  incomprehensible, 
attracted  few  worshipers.  It  was  before  Deity 
embodied  in  human  form,  walking  among  men, 
partaking  of  their  infirmities,  leaning  on  their 
bosoms,  weeping  over  their  graves,  slumbering  in 
their  manger,  bleeding  on  the  cross,  that  the 
prejudices  of  the  synagogue  and  the  doubts  of  the 

147 


Gbe  Gbeme  of  tbe  Cbdetian  fiOinietr^ 


academy  and  the  pride  of  the  portico  and  the  fasces 
of  the  lictors  and  the  swords  of  thirty  legions  were 
humbled  in  the  dust. 

Nothing  is  truer.  To  awaken  and  keep 
in  exercise  greatest  energy  and  deepest 
affection  of  human  nature,  there  must  be 
something  real  and  tangible  before  the 
heart.  The  merely  ideal  cannot  long  sus¬ 
tain  enthusiasm  and  devotion. 

And  men,  in  going  out  after  images  or 
revelations  of  God,  have  been  disappointed 
in  every  direction,  except  in  Jesus  Christ, 
“God  manifest  in  the  flesh”;  disap¬ 
pointed  as  they  sought  him  in  nature,  this 
great,  gorgeous  material  universe  of  sun 
and  star  and  planet,  of  land  and  air  and 
ocean  ;  disappointed  as  they  have  sought 
him  in  providence,  the  daily  movement 
of  individual  and  national  history,  with  its 
strange  intermixture  of  joy  and  sorrow, 
perplexity  and  adversity  ;  disappointed  as 
they  have  sought  him  even  in  the  Old 
Testament,  that  early  revelation  of  God 
through  patriarch,  psalmist,  and  prophet, 
with  their  yearning  soul  and  anticipative 

song  and  future  hope.  No  one  of  these 

148 


B  Consoling  IRevelatton 


media  presents  God  in  that  fullness  and 
glory  of  his  moral  affectionate  attributes 
which  cause  the  tired  human  heart  to 
lean  upon  him  as  Father.  In  each  he 
is  Jehovah,  far-off,  inaccessible,  awful. 
Though  nature  is  “the  living  garment  in 
which  the  Invisible  One  has  robed  his 
mysterious  loveliness,”  yet  within  all  her 
domain  there  is  no  revelation  of  moral  at¬ 
tributes.  Though  the  Old  Testament 
speaks  of  God  as  “  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land,”  and  a  “  Sun  and  shield,”  still  some¬ 
thing  more  is  needed.  To  see  the  sun,  says 
Emerson,  a  man  must  have  a  sunny  eye. 
So  to  understand  a  personal  God  requires 
a  Personal  Revealer.  The  boundless  One 
must  be  limited.  The  Spiritual  One  must 
be  incarnated.  The  invisible  One  must 
be  seen.  The  intangible  One  must  be 
felt.  “  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time, 
the  only  begotten  hath  revealed  him,”  or 
better,  led  him  forth.  Christ  is  repre¬ 
sented  as  the  brightness  of  the  Father’s 
glory  and  the  express  image  of  his  person 
— more  literally,  the  outflashing  of  his 

being  and  the  character  of  his  essence. 

149 


flbe  Gbeme  of  tbe  Christian  fiQtmetrE 


In  other  words,  he  is  for  humanity  Deity’s 
expression,  Deity’s  actualization,  without 
which  no  man  has  ever  seen  God,  nay, 
more,  has  ever  felt  the  perfect  joy  of  his 
glorious  presence.  How  many  hearts 
sympathize  with  the  poet’s  lines  : 

Till  God  in  human  flesh  I  see, 

My  thoughts  no  comfort  find  ; 

The  sacred,  just,  and  awful  Three, 

Are  terrors  to  my  mind. 

But  when  Immanuel’s  face  appears, 

My  hopes,  my  joys  begin, 

His  grace  relieves  my  slavish  fears, 

His  blood  doth  cleanse  my  sin. 

Let  Jews  on  their  own  law  rely, 

And  Greek  of  wisdom  boast, 

I  love  the  incarnate  mystery, 

And  there  I  fix  my  trust. 

And  nowhere  has  our  Lord  and  Master 
so  revealed  God  in  the  beauty  and  glory 
of  his  moral  attributes  as  on  the  cross. 
Divinity’s  reflection  is  here  complete.  Is 
God  a  God  of  love  ?  See  Christ  here 
yielding  up  his  life  for  the  world’s  re¬ 
demption — love  in  its  illimitableness  and 
in  its  far-reaching  aim.  Is  God  a  God  of 

*5° 


B  Coneoling  IRevelation 


forgiveness  ?  Gaze  upon  Jesus  as,  throw¬ 
ing  the  arms  of  divine  sympathy  around 
hardened  soldier  and  mocking  Pharisee, 
he  intercedes  for  their  pardon.  Is  God 
a  God  of  salvation  ?  Hear  the  words  of 
eternal  life  which  the  Master  here  speaks 
to  the  dying  robber.  Oh  !  brethren  and 
friends,  is  it  too  much  to  declare  that  in 
the  amplitude  of  the  infinite  love  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  him  crucified  every  other  ele¬ 
ment  and  characteristic  of  divinity  has 
been  manifested  to  the  world  ?  If  poor 
Carlyle  had  seen  God  thus,  he  would 
never  have  been  overheard  saying,  just 
before  his  death,  “  I  can  believe  in  a  God 
only  that  does  something ;  God  has  done 
nothing. ”  His  was  the  intuitive  belief  of 
mind,  a  belief  drawn  from  nature  and  his¬ 
tory.  Had  he  laid  hold  by  faith  on  the 
historic  Christ,  he  would  never  have  ex¬ 
claimed,  “  God  has  done  nothing,”  but 
would  have  beheld  Jehovah  as  a  God 
who  had  rent  the  veil  of  heaven  and 
come  forth  incarnate — a  God  with  whom 
every  soul  may  have  personal,  conscious, 
responsible  relations  in  duty — a  God  who 

151 


£be  ftbeme  of  tbe  Cbrietian  fffhrUstr^ 


in  the  infinitude  of  his  compassion  has 
given  his  only  begotten  Son  as  a  sacrifice 
for  sin.  O  blessed  Christ,  he  that  hath 
seen  thee  hath  seen  the  Father  in  the 
might  of  his  power,  the  magnificence  of 
his  glory,  the  tenderness  of  his  compas¬ 
sion. 

Finally,  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified 
is  the  only  propitiation  for  human  sin  and 
the  divinely  wrought  magnet 

basnet  t0  draW  human  hearts  to 

God.  From  the  earliest  day 
of  man’s  existence  on  earth,  the  supreme 
question  of  his  immortal  being  has  been 
the  vexed  old  question  that  puzzled  even 
the  “perfect  and  upright”  patriarch  of 
Uz,  How  shall  man  be  just  with  God  ? 
Says  an  eminent  writer : 

It  may  be  an  offering  of  first-fruits  or  the  shed¬ 
ding  of  blood  of  rams  or  bullocks ;  it  may  be  the 
sacrifice  of  the  fairest  of  the  captives ;  it  may  be 
sprinkling  of  human  blood  upon  an  idol ;  it  may 
be  a  father  burning  his  children  on  the  brazen 
knees  of  Moloch,  or  a  mother  throwing  her  babe 
in  the  Ganges,  or  a  devotee  submitting  his  own 
person  to  torture  on  an  iron  hook,  or  lying  down 
on  a  bed  of  spikes,  or  living  year  by  year  tor- 

152 


B  Divinely  'Wlttougbt  fulagnct 


mented  by  sackcloth  and  flagellations,  fastings 
and  vigils. 

Yet  everywhere  there  is  the  same  heart- 
moving  cry  :  How  shall  man  be  just  with 
God  ?  Now,  it  is  not  within  the  province 
of  science  or  philosophy  or  ethics  to 
answer  this  question.  None  of  these  can 
bind  together  the  sinless  and  the  sinful, 
the  Infinite  and  the  finite,  the  Creator 
and  the  creature.  Nor  does  natural  relig¬ 
ion  hold  out  any  hope  here.  Buddhism, 
Brahminism,  Confucianism,  the  cry  of 
each  of  these  systems  is  but  the  echo  of 
Lady  Macbeth’s  exclamation  of  anguish  : 

Will  all  great  Neptune’s  ocean  wash  this  blood 

Clean  from  my  hand  ? 

Socrates  could  say  to  Plato,  “  It  may 
be  that  the  gods  can  forgive  deliberate 
sin,  but  how,  I  can  never  tell.” 

Now,  before  the  bowed  head  and  bleed¬ 
ing  heart  of  impotent  humanity  steps 
forth  Christianity  with  its  crucified  Lord, 
and  declares,  as  it  points  to  the  world’s 
Redeemer,  “  Christ  hath  redeemed  us 
from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a 

T53 


XLhc  ftbeme  ot  tbe  Christian  flllinistrE 


curse  for  us”;  “he  tasted  death  for 
every  man  ”  ;  “he  is  the  propitiation  for 
the  sins  of  the  whole  world  ”  ;  “  his  own 
self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the 
tree.”  And  then  that  magnificent  decla¬ 
ration  which  sums  up  all,  “If  the  blood 
of  bulls  and  goats  and  ashes  of  a  heifer, 
sprinkling  the  unclean,  sanctifieth  to  the 
purifying  of  the  flesh,  how  much  more 
shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who,  through 
the  Eternal  Spirit,  offered  himself  without 
spot  to  God,  purge  your  consciences  from 
dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God.” 
Yes,  in  that  Christ,  and  him  alone,  find 
we  a  personal  revelation  and  a  satisfactory 
demonstration  of  an  atoning  sacrifice  for 
sin. 

To  use  Krummacher’s  beautiful  figure, 
the  cross  is  the  condition  which  carries 
off  the  destroying  flesh  from  our  race  by 
Christ  attracting  it  to  himself.  “  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  to  me,”  that  is 
the  divine  decree,  the  eternal  fiat.  “  Lifted 
up.”  Not  through  physical  force  ;  Mo¬ 
hammed  and  Picardian  hermit  may  trust 
to  the  sword.  Not  through  merely  in- 

*54 


B  Divinely  TKHrouQbt  fnla^net 


tellectual  supremacy  ;  Plato  and  Socra¬ 
tes  excelled  in  that.  Not  simply  through 
moral  teaching  ;  Seneca  is  conspicuous  as 
a  moralist.  Not  through  any  nor  through 
all  of  these  would  the  Son  of  Man  lift 
the  universe  to  the  throne  of  God,  but 
through  the  reconciliation  of  man  to  God 
by  the  all-efficacious  blood  of  the  ever¬ 
lasting  covenant.  “  Sacrifice,”  says 
Baron  Bunsen,  “is  the  fundamental  mys¬ 
tery  of  all  religion,  whether  considered  as 
worship  or  life. ’ ^  A  great  truth  Luthardt 
expresses  when  he  writes,  “  Heathenism 
was  the  seeking  religion  and  Judaism  the 
hoping  religion  ;  Christianity  is  the  reality 
of  all  that  heathenism  sought  and  Juda¬ 
ism  hoped  for.”  “  Only  this  I  know,” 
writes  De  Wette  in  closing  his  commen¬ 
tary,  “  in  no  other  is  there  salvation  save 
in  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.” 

Let  me  to-day,  fathers  and  brethren, 
emphasize  that  truth  with  all  the  fervor 
and  power  of  deep  conviction.  This  doc¬ 
trine  is  in  danger,  I  am  convinced,  of  at 
least  partial  eclipse  in  our  day.  Opening  a 
book  lately,  I  read  these  words  :  “  Accord- 

155 


Ube  ^beme  of  tbe  Cbriettan  {ministry 


ing  to  the  doctrines  of  the  old-school  men 
we  are  condemned  of  a  sin  not  our  own 
and  rescued  by  a  righteousness  equally 
not  our  own.  But  intelligent  men  are 
casting  away  that  superstition  to-day,  and 
holding  that  man  stands  before  his  Creator 
for  what  he,  and  not  another,  is.”  And 
again,  “Jesus  is  a  Saviour,  not  because 
he  died,  but  because  he  lived.  There 
was  no  magic  power  in  his  death.  The 
cross  plays  no  part  in  human  redemption.” 
What !  no  part  in  human  redemption ! 
“I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,”  “this,”  adds  the 
evangelist,  “said  he,  signifying  what 
death  he  should  die.”  If  language  means 
anything,  if  words  have  any  force,  here 
is  projected  the  glorious,  magnificent, 
heaven-born  conception  of  the  cross  as 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  all 
believing  spirits. 

Believe  me,  friends,  there  is  no  per- 
adventure  here.  The  cross  is  no  ex¬ 
periment.  As  surely  as  Jesus  was  cru¬ 
cified  and  as  surely  as  the  oath  of  God  is 
true,  so  true  is  it  that  there  is  redemption 
on  Calvary,  and  there  alone.  The  wis- 

i56 


Cwo  lpractical  Xessons 


dom  which  conceived  the  plan  of  the 
satisfaction  of  the  divine  government 
by  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  him¬ 
self  in  the  place  of  the  sinner,  is  unerring 
wisdom.  The  authority  which  commanded 
the  execution  and  promised  redemption,  is 
as  unquestioned  as  the  right  of  the  Al¬ 
mighty  to  the  throne  of  the  universe. 
The  power  which  is  arranged  for  the  ac¬ 
complishment  of  the  purpose,  is  the  power 
able  to  bring  under  contribution  to  this 
end  the  whole  machinery  of  nature  and 
grace,  even  the  power  of  the  Lord  God 
Omnipotent.  And  the  love  which  in¬ 
spired  the  wisdom  to  conceive  and  the 
authority  to  command  and  the  power  to 
execute,  is  the  unchangeable  nature  of 
Jehovah  himself. 

O  glorious  cross,  Faith  trusts  the  day  to  see 
When  hope  shall  turn  all  eyes,  love  draw  all 
hearts  to  thee. 


Two  practical  lessons  for  us  to-day,  as 
we  begin  our  work  together 
as  pastor  and  people. 

The  one  lesson  is  that  Je¬ 
sus  Christ  and  him  crucified  is  the  cen- 

r57 


Uwo  lpractical 
lessons 


Gbe  Gbeme  of  tbe  Christian  fullnistrg 


tral  theme  of  the  Christian  ministry. 
Dr.  Payson  realized  this  when,  in  ad¬ 
dressing  a  body  of  ministers,  he  earn¬ 
estly  said:  “I  beseech  you,  brethren, 
paint  Jesus  upon  your  canvas,  and  then 
hold  it  up  for  the  applause  of  an 
admiring  world.”  The  great  French 
preacher,  Bourdaloue,  realized  this;  when 
told  by  Louis  XIV.  that  all  the  world  was 
moved  by  his  eloquence  and  learning,  he 
humbly  expressed  the  wish  that  all  the 
human  praise  which  his  eloquence  and 
learning  evoked  might  be  hung  as  a  gar¬ 
land  on  the  cross  of  calvary.  A  conse¬ 
crated  father  of  the  early  Christian  church 
realized  this,  when,  full  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  he  exclaimed:  “Were  the  highest 
heaven  my  pulpit,  and  the  whole  host  of 
the  redeemed  my  audience,  and  eternity 
my  day,  Jesus  alone  would  be  my  theme.” 
Ah  !  well  do  these  men  of  God  thus  speak  ! 
The  message  of  the  pulpit  should  be  char¬ 
acteristically  and  invariably  Christo-cen¬ 
tric — Christ  the  God,  Christ  the  man, 
Christ  the  God-man,  the  dying  Christ, 
the  risen  Christ,  the  reigning  Christ, 

158 


Hwo  practical  Wessons 


Christ  the  end  of  the  law  to  every  one 
that  believeth.  Of  all  the  themes  that 
inspire  human  hearts  and  fire  human  lips, 
this  alone  is  sufficient  to  magnify  the  name 
of  God,  exalt  the  divine  Son,  convict  and 
convert  human  souls,  and  transform  a 
Paradise  Lost,  with  all  its  blight  and  woe 
into  a  Paradise  Regained,  with  all  its  ce¬ 
lestial  songs  and  eternal  triumphs ;  and 
prompted  by  this  conviction — nay,  held 
by  it  as  yon  planet  is  held  in  its  orbit  by 
the  law  of  gravity — each  ambassador  of 
Christ  should,  with  his  face  turned  to  his 
Master,  lift  the  prayer : 

In  offering  thy  salvation  free 
Let  all  absorbing  thoughts  of  thee 
My  mind  and  soul  engross  ; 

And  when  all  hearts  are  moved  and  stirred 
Beneath  the  influence  of  thy  word, 

Hide  me  behind  thy  cross  ! 

Christ!  Christ!  Not  ethics  nor  moral 
philosophy,  not  astronomy  nor  geology, 
not  history  nor  political  economy,  but 
Christ  on  Calvary’s  summit,  the  center 
of  humanity’s  highest  hopes,  noblest  as¬ 
pirations,  and  divinest  life.  As  Fra  An- 

I59 


Gbe  Gbeme  of  tbe  Christian  flflinistrE 


gelico,  the  saintly  Italian  painter,  would 
never  go  to  his  palette  and  brush  to  do 
work  on  the  figure  of  Jesus  without  first 
partaking  of  the  communion,  so  let  us, 
each  Christian  minister,  precede  his  pulpit 
duties  by  a  prayerful  visit  to  Calvary  and 
its  cross. 

The  other  lesson  is,  that  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified  should  be  our  grandest 
inspiration  in  all  church  work  and  mission¬ 
ary  enterprise.  “  Wherever,”  writes  the 
author  of  “Christianity’s  Challenge,” 
“wherever  Christ  crucified  has  been  ex¬ 
punged  from  the  creed  and  the  life,  there 
has  been  no  aggressive  force,  no  regen¬ 
erative  influence,  no  transforming  power.” 
This  may  seem  to  some  the  language  of 
exaggeration,  if  not  fanaticism,  but  it  is  a 
great,  solemn  fact — a  fact  taught  in  God’s 
word,  confirmed  by  observation,  and  veri¬ 
fied  by  experience  :  “  Without  Me  ye  can 
do  nothing,”  “  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  .  .  .  will 
draw  all  men  unto  me.”  Eradicate  the 
cross,  exclaims  a  gifted  prophet  of  to¬ 
day,  eradicate  the  cross,  and  faith  fails, 

hope  dies,  love  grows  cold,  and  the  whole 

160 


Zwo  ipracttcal  Xessons 


Christian  profession  becomes  as  sounding 
brass  or  a  clanging  cymbal  ;  emphasize 
the  cross,  and  all  Christians  develop  in 
beauty  and  strength,  and  under  the 
ennobling  influence  the  believer  is  in¬ 
spired  to  exclaim,  “  The  love  of  Christ 
constrains  us,  because  he  died  for  all,  that 
they  who  live  should  not  henceforth  live 
unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  died 
for  them  and  rose  again.”  The  cross  is 
Christianity’s  hope  as  well  as  Christian¬ 
ity’s  center.  Already  the  mightiest  cur¬ 
rents  of  feeling  flowing  through  the  world 
have  their  source  in  the  crucified  Son  of 
God,  and  under  his  triumphant  banner 
the  church  of  the  living  God  is  marching 
forth,  bright  as  the  sun,  fair  as  the  moon, 
terrible  as  an  army  with  banners  against 
every  opposing  element,  hastening  the 

One  far-off,  divine  event 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves — 

the  subduing  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
by  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  his 
Christ ! 

God  give  each  one  some  humble  part  in 
l  161 


Gbe  Gbeme  of  tbe  Christian  nilinistrtf 


this  glad  consummation  for  his  name’s 
sake !  God  bind  our  hearts,  as  pastor 
and  people,  in  hearty,  consecrated  en¬ 
deavor  for  the  honor  of  his  name  and  the 
salvation  of  the  world  ! 


162 


IMMIGRATION  AND  CHRISTIANITY 


(Address  delivered  before  the  American  Home  (Mis¬ 
sion  Society ,  at  the  Rational  Anniversaries 
held  in  Cincinnati ,  £May,  1892 


V 


RECENT  popular  writer  has  clearly 


A  pointed  out,  by  an  intelligent  sur¬ 
vey  of  the  centuries,  that 
emigration  and  immigra-  Ub^pf^or12 
tion,  as  we  conceive  of  them 
to-day,  are  phenomena  of  modern  life  ; 
that  although  there  have  been,  in  every 
period  of  human  history,  migrations  of 
men,  it  is  only  in  the  last  years  of  the 
world’s  life  that  this  migratory  impulse 
has  assumed  a  systematic  and  well-organ¬ 
ized  shape.  Especially  is  it  true  that  the 
migration  of  men  into  America,  in  any¬ 
thing  like  large  numbers,  is  a  feature  of 
the  present  century  of  our  Christian  era. 
It  was  only  in  1820  that  the  United  States 
of  America  opened  its  official  immigration 
records.  And  yet  during  the  time  that 
has  elapsed  between  1820  and  1891,  a 
period  comprising  two-thirds  of  a  century, 
the  most  progressive  and  marvelous  the 


165 


Immigration  anD  CbristianitE 


world  has  ever  known,  what  a  host  of 
men  and  women  from  other  lands  have 
flocked  to  our  shores  !  In  so  vast  num¬ 
bers  have  these  come  that  to-day,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  most  reliable  statistics,  our  for¬ 
eign-born  population  and  their  offspring 
among  us  are  no  fewer  than  twenty-one 
million  three  hundred  and  eighty-five 
thousand  souls,  or  more  than  thirty-three 
per  cent,  of  our  total  population.  From 
European  countries  alone  there  have  been 
received  by  us,  within  this  time,  about 
eleven  million,  of  whom  eight  million 
have  arrived  during  the  last  thirty  years, 
five  million  since  1880,  and  two  million  six 
hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  since  1885. 
That  mighty  race  instinct  which  in  the  fifth 
century,  led  the  Saxon  tribes  to  England, 
and  in  the  ninth  century,  the  Norsemen  to 
France,  and  in  the  tenth  century,  the 
Danes  to  Scottish-Northumbria,  as  in 
later  days  the  great  Oriental  nations  to 
Europe  across  the  Balkans  and  the  Helles¬ 
pont,  has  in  this  nineteenth  century  of 
enlightenment  and  progress,  impelled 

European  and  Asiatic  peoples  to  the 

166 


Gbe  fiQtgratorE  Umpulse 


fuller,  freer,  more  glorious  civilization  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  These  millions 
from  abroad,  now  driven  by  the  expellent 
influences  of  the  Old  World,  now  drawn 
by  the  attractive  influences  of  our  new 
continent,  have  come  from  every  direc¬ 
tion — from  fickle  France  and  overtaxed 
Italy,  from  sturdy  Germany  and  restless 
England,  from  substantial  Scandinavia 
and  uneasy  Ireland,  from  socialistic  Aus¬ 
tria  and  nihilistic  Russia,  from  progres¬ 
sive  Japan  and  conservative  China — an 
ever-increasing  and  irresistible  army, 
mightier  than  Henry  Clay  dreamed  of 
when,  standing  on  the  Alleghany  heights, 
he  was  led  to  exclaim  prophetically,  “  I 
hear  the  tread  of  coming  millions  !  ” 

And  on  the  basis  of  past  increase,  an 
eminent  statistician  reckons  that  our  for¬ 
eign  population  at  the  beginning  of  the 
twentieth  century,  less  than  ten  years  in 
the  future,  will  be  not  fewer  than  forty- 
three  million  souls.  From  1820  to  1830 
we  received  some  twelve  thousand  immi¬ 
grants  annually  ;  in  1830-1835  the  num¬ 
ber  increased  to  an  average  of  seventeen 

167 


Immigration  anD  Christianity 


thousand  a  year;  in  1842,  to  one  hundred 
thousand  ;  in  1854,  to  four  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-three  ;  in  1872,  to  four  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  ;  while  in  1882  the  annual  immigra¬ 
tion  was  six  hundred  and  ten  thousand 
one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  ;  while 
during  1881-1884  there  was  an  aggregate 
immigration  to  our  shores  of  two  million 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand. 
In  1887  there  came  to  us  from  abroad 
five  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  nine 

i 

hundred  and  thirty-three  persons ;  in 
1888,  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  thou¬ 
sand  and  nineteen  ;  in  1890,  four  hundred 
and  fifty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
two.  Of  the  sixteen  million  foreigners 
who  have  landed  at  our  seaports  in  the 
last  seventy  years,  more  than  one-half 
have  arrived  during  the  last  twenty  years. 

A  few  more  of  these  interesting  and 
easily  remembered  statis- 

llnterestlng  J 

statistics  of  these  sixteen  millions 

— to  give  the  figures  of  another — three 

168 


linteresting  Statistics 


million  three  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine 
came  from  Ireland  ;  one  million  five  hun¬ 
dred  and  twenty  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ninety-two  from  England  and  Wales ; 
three  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  twenty-four  from  Scotland  ; 
four  million  three  hundred  and  fifty-nine 
thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-one 
from  Germany ;  eight  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  thousand  and  eighty-three  from 
Norway  and  Sweden;  one  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  and 
forty-two  from  Denmark  ;  three  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  thousand  three  hundred 
and  thirty-three  from  France  ;  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  sixty  thousand  two  hundred 
and  one  from  Switzerland ;  and  three 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  seven  hun¬ 
dred  and  ninety-six  from  Italy.  In  our 
republic  to-day  we  have  nearly  twice  as 
many  Irishmen  as  there  are  at  present  in 
all  Ireland  ;  one  Norwegian  for  every  three 
in  Norway  ;  one  Swede  for  every  five  in 
Sweden,  and  one  Dane  for  every  eight 

in  Denmark.  In  1880  there  were  forty- 

169 


Hmmigratton  anD  Christianity 


four  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty 
Italians  on  our  shores  ;  in  1890  this  num¬ 
ber  had  grown  to  three  hundred  and 
seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  ten, 
while  during  the  month  of  March  just 
passed,  notwithstanding  our  stricter  im¬ 
migration  laws,  the  number  of  these  peo¬ 
ple — and  who  can  say  how  many  among 
them  are  in  sympathy  with  the  creed  and 
deed  of  the  base  Mafia  organization  ? — 
exceeded  that  of  any  previous  month  in 
the  history  of  our  continent.  Of  the  two 
thousand  one  hundred  and  five  immigrants 
that  landed  yesterday  at  New  York  port, 
one  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
three,  the  morning’s  dispatches  tell  us, 
are  reported  as  Italians,  while  thirty-five 
Italians  were  barred  from  landing  because 
of  being  ex-convicts,  or  likely  to  become 
public  charities.  Such  as  these  are  mak¬ 
ing  America  the  world’s  degraded  dump¬ 
ing  ground.  From  Hungary,  in  1890,  we 
received  twenty-two  thousand,  as  against 
eleven  thousand  in  1889;  from  Poland, 
eleven  thousand  and  seventy-three,  as 

against  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and 

1 70 


Unteresting  Statistics 


twenty-two ;  from  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Empire,  exclusive  of  Bohemians,  twenty- 
nine  thousand  six  hundred  and  eleven,  as 
against  twenty  thousand  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two. 

In  1889  there  were  four  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  thousand  immigrants  to  the 
United  States  ;  in  1890,  four  hundred  and 
fifty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
two,  of  whom  four  hundred  and  forty- 
three  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  were  Europeans  in  the  following  pro¬ 
portions  :  Germans,  ninety-two  thousand 
four  hundred  and  twenty-seven  ;  English, 
fifty-seven  thousand  and  twenty ;  Irish, 
fifty -three  thousand  and  twenty-four ; 
Italians,  fifty-two  thousand  and  three ; 
Swedes,  twenty-nine  thousand  six  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty-two  ;  Scotch,  twelve  thou¬ 
sand  and  forty-one;  Norwegians,  eleven 
thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy ; 
Danes,  nine  thousand  three  hundred  and 
sixty-six  ;  Swiss,  six  thousand  nine  hun¬ 
dred  and  ninety-three;  French,  six  thou¬ 
sand  five  hundred  and  eighty-five ;  not 

specified,  one  hundred  and  twelve  thou- 

171 


Hmmteratlon  anO  CbrtetianttE 


sand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-four;  total 
Europeans,  four  hundred  and  forty-three 
thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-five ; 
all  others,  twelve  thousand  and  seven. 

During  the  last  ten  years  the  influx 
from  abroad  into  our  country  exceeds  the 
number  of  the  population  of  Holland  or 
Belgium,  of  Norway  or  Sweden,  of  Greece 
or  Switzerland.  During  the  last  eight 
months  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  thou¬ 
sand  and  sixty-five  immigrants  have  en¬ 
tered  into  American  ports,  as  against  two 
hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  six  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty-three  in  the  corresponding 
period  of  last  year.  During  the  past 
month  sixty  thousand  four  hundred  and 
forty-nine  foreigners  landed  at  Castle 
Garden,  while  in  April  of  last  year  there 
were  but  forty-nine  thousand  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  eighty-four,  which  is  the  highest 
number  for  any  April  since  1882,  during 
which  year  we  were  invaded  by  a  foreign 
host  of  six  hundred  and  ten  thousand  one 
hundred  and  eighty-seven. 

Now,  through  this  almost  unrestricted 

influx,  it  begins  to  look  as  though  our 

172 


Unteresttng  Statistics 

American  cities,  themselves  the  very  nerve 
centers  of  our  national  life,  would  cease 
to  be  American.  Those  best  acquainted 
with  the  subject  tell  us  that  thirty-four  per 
cent,  of  the  persons  of  foreign  birth  now 
in  the  United  States  are  to  be  found  in 
our  cities.  Thus  :  Of  the  Irish,  forty -five 
per  cent. ;  of  the  Germans,  thirty-eight 
per  cent. ;  of  the  English  and  Scotch, 
thirty  per  cent. ;  of  Italians,  forty  per 
cent.  Eighty  per  cent,  of  the  total  popu¬ 
lation  of  New  York  City  is  constituted  of 
foreigners,  by  birth  or  parentage.  One- 
third  of  the  population  of  New  York  City, 
and  one-fourth  of  the  population  of  Bos¬ 
ton,  are  Irish.  The  former  city  has  more 
Roman  Catholics  than  Vienna,  and  Vienna 
has  more  than  six  hundred  thousand  of 
this  priest-guided  people.  Of  the  one 
hundred  and  seventy-two  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  fifty-six  votes  recently  cast 
at  an  election  in  Chicago,  eighty-eight 
thousand  five  hundred  and  nine  are  re¬ 
ported  as  being  given  by  naturalized  citi¬ 
zens,  as  follows:  Germans,  thirty-three 
thousand  and  two  ;  Irish,  twenty  thousand 

i73 


Hmmigratton  and  Christianity 


two  hundred  and  fifty-three  ;  Swedes,  six 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  four ;  English, 
five  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty ; 
Canadians,  four  thousand  four  hundred 
and  two  ;  Bohemians,  three  thousand  four 
hundred  and  forty-seven;  Norwegians, 
two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  ;  Poles,  two  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-four ;  Scotch,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ten ;  Austrians,  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  seven  ;  Danes, 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  ;  Russians,  nine  hundred  and  sixty  ; 
Hollanders,  nine  hundred  and  eleven  ;  Ital¬ 
ians,  six  hundred  and  eighty-six  ;  Swiss, 
six  hundred  and  eighty-eight;  French, 
five  hundred  and  forty-seven;  Hungarians, 
one  hundred  and  sixty-nine ;  and  others, 
four  hundred  and  two. 

The  foreign  element  in  St.  Louis,  by 
birth  and  parentage,  is  thirteen  per  cent.; 
in  Detroit,  fifteen ;  in  Cincinnati,  eight¬ 
een  ;  in  Milwaukee,  twenty-seven.  Is 
there  not  basis  for  the  fear  expressed  by 
Dr.  Strong  that  our  cities  are  fast  becom¬ 
ing  miniature  Europes,  with  a  little  Ireland 

174 


Interesting  Statistics 


here,  a  little  Germany  there,  a  little  Italy 
yonder  ?  Our  more  than  one  hundred 
American  cities  with  a  population  each  of 
over  twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants, 
hold  to-day  of  our  native-born  popula¬ 
tion  only  eighteen  and  fifty-six  one-hun¬ 
dredths  per  cent.,  while  of  their  foreign- 
born  they  have  forty-four  and  thirteen 
one-hundredths  per  cent.,  the  former  ag¬ 
gregating  nine  million  nine  hundred  and 
seven  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty- 
one  ;  the  latter,  four  million  eighty-one 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirty-seven. 
And  what  a  class  from  abroad  congre¬ 
gates  in  these  centers:  Forty-four  and 
eighteen  one-hundredths  per  cent,  of  Hun¬ 
garians,  forty-eight  and  thirty-three  one- 
hundredths  of  Bohemians,  fifty-seven  and 
eleven  one-hundredths  of  Poles,  fifty- 
seven  and  ninety  one-hundredths  of  Rus¬ 
sians,  and  sixty-four  and  eleven  one-hun¬ 
dredths  of  Italians  !  We  are  not  surprised 
that  in  view  of  such  immigrants  as  these 
a  distinguished  American  statesman  has 
recently  declared  with  vigor : 

“It  is  immigration  that  has  fed  fat  the 

i75 


Hmmfgratfon  anD  Christianity 


liquor  traffic,  and  there  is  your  liquor 

vote ;  it  is  immigration  that 
B  ^national  pert!  ,  ’ 

has  furnished  most  of  the 

victims  of  Mormonism,  and  there  is  your 
Mormon  vote  ;  it  is  immigration  that  is  the 
strength  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  there  is  your  Catholic  vote ;  it  is 
immigration  that  is  the  mother  and  nurse 
of  American  Socialism,  and  there  is  your 
socialistic  vote  ”  ;  and  it  is  these  facts  that 
give  complexion  and  direction  to  our  rab¬ 
ble-ruled  cities.  Men  and  brethren,  let  us 
remember  that  it  was  because  of  the 
degradation  of  their  cities  ages  ago,  that 
ancient  Assyria  and  queenly  Persia  and 
classic  Greece  and  imperial  Rome  so 
sadly  fell ;  and  if  our  blood-bought  and 
blood-consecrated  America  ever  falls  (as 
Macaulay  predicts  it  will  in  the  twentieth 
century),  it  will  be  because  in  our  cities 
the  best  elements  have  stepped  aside  and 
thrown  the  reins  of  the  government  to  the  . 
great  thronging  multitudes  of  ignorance 
and  vice,  who  would  drive  the  car  of  State 
into  danger  and  destruction.  If  the  bullet 

ever  takes  the  place  of  the  ballot  in  our 

1 76 


U  tfurtber  Unquiet 


republic,  that  sad  transfer  of  power  will 
begin  in  our  cities.  God,  almighty  and 
all-gracious,  save  our  American  cities 
from  the  ignorant  and  the  base,  and  thus 
save  our  American  nation  from  decay  and 
death  !  So  much  for  immigration  numer¬ 
ically. 

A  further  inquiry :  What  of  this  large 
and  increasing  immigration  from  Asiatic 
nations  and  Continental  Eu- 
rope,  so  greatly  molding  the  * 
formative  character  of  our 
republic  ?  It  is  simple  truth  to  say  that 
in  a  multitude  of  cases  it  does  not  add  to, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  in  a  large  measure 
does  sadly  detract  from,  the  higher  pros¬ 
perity  of  our  republic.  Of  course,  here 
we  must  discriminate.  In  many  instances 
those  who  come  to  us  from  abroad  are,  we 
gladly  acknowledge,  enterprising,  helpful 
citizens,  men  and  women  in  full  sympathy 
with  our  free  institutions  and  the  funda¬ 
mental  ideas  upon  which  our  national  edi¬ 
fice  has  been  reared,  and  desiring  to  aid  us 
in  the  propagation  and  establishment  of  a 

pure  Christianity  and  an  enlightened  civ- 
m  177 


^Immigration  anD  Christianity 


ilization,  thus  proving  themselves  potent 
elements  in  the  protection  of  our  govern¬ 
ment  and  in  the  preservation  of  our 
morals.  We  welcome  all  such,  rejoiced 
that  true  representatives  of  every  nation 
may  find  on  our  shores  a  safe  asylum  and 
an  impartial  justice.  Better  would  it  be 
for  us  as  a  nation,  had  we,  as  another  has 
recommended,  more  of  English  self-reli¬ 
ance,  more  of  Scotch  independence,  more 
of  German  acquisitiveness,  more  of  Irish 
vivacity,  more  of  French  enthusiasm, 
more  of  Norwegian  simplicity,  and  per¬ 
vading  all  this,  purifying  all  this,  spiritual¬ 
izing  all  this,  more  of  that  Christ-likeness 
which  is  destined  to  bring  the  human 
back  into  the  image  of  the  Divine.  “  That 
nation  is  broadest  and  strongest  and  most 
likely  to  endure  which  has  received  the 
largest  contribution  from  other  nations, 
provided  only  that  that  contribution  be 
safe  and  pure.  What  we  want  is  not 
America  for  Americans,  but  Americans  for 
America.  It  is  not  birth,  nor  language, 
nor  complexion  that  constitutes  a  person 

an  alien  as  distinguished  from  an  Amer- 

178 


*UlnDe0irable  Immigration 


ican,  but  the  attitude  of  such  a  person 
toward  the  government  and  people  of  the 
United  States. ” 

Now,  to  this  desirable  class  of  citizens, 
it  must  be  confessed,  do  not  belong  the 
great  mass  of  immigrants 
who  seek  in  America  a  new  ^n&cslra,JIe 

Immigration 

home.  To  the  best  interests 
of  our  republic  they  are  a  hindrance  rather 
than  a  help,  a  curse  rather  than  a  bless¬ 
ing.  Many  of  these  are  paupers  ;  more 
of  them  are  criminals,  “beings  low  in 
the  scale,  moral,  intellectual,  and  social, 
without  the  slightest  comprehension  of 
republican  government,  familiar  only  with 
the  habits  and  thoughts  of  a  cruel  despot¬ 
ism,  destitute  of  resources  and  strangers 
to  lofty  ambition.”  Illiteracy  among  our 
foreign-born  population  is  thirty-eight  per 
cent,  greater  than  among  our  native-born 
white  population.  Not  five  per  cent,  of 
the  Italians  and  Hungarians  now  coming 
to  us  can  either  read  or  write.  During 
1893  the  immigrants  arriving  were  three 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand,  of 

whom  fifty-seven  thousand  could  not  read, 

179 


Hmmigration  anD  Christianity 


fifty-nine  thousand  could  not  write,  and 
sixty-one  thousand  could  not  both  read 
and  write.  Think  of  that  and  blush,  ye 
American  people  !  Think  of  that  and  re¬ 
call  our  immigrants  of  other  days — the 
Puritans  of  England,  the  Huguenots  of 
France,  and  the  Moravians  of  Germany. 
It  is  said  on  good  authority  that  previously 
to  a  recent  election  in  New  York  City, 
some  foreigners  presented  themselves  for 
naturalization  who  supposed  that  we  had 
a  king  in  this  country,  others  who  did  not 
know  how  the  president  was  elected, 
others  still  who  did  not  know  the  pres¬ 
ident’s  name ;  and  yet  these  are  Amer¬ 
ican  voters,  as  ignorant  of  our  laws  and 
institutions  as  an  untutored  savage  is 
ignorant  of  “  Bryce’s  Commonwealth,” 
their  unfitness  for  citizenship  equaled 
only  by  our  folly  in  granting  it  to  them. 
Oh !  that  as  a  nation  we  might  hear  and 
heed  the  words  of  wisdom  from  the  lips  of 
Joseph  Cook:  “The  ages  will  respect  no 
State  which  is  not  made  up,  as  the  famous 
Plymouth  monument,  of  education,  law, 

morality,  and  freedom,  presided  over  by  a 

180 


TUnDesirable  Hmmtgration 


genius  having  in  its  arms  the  volume  of 
religious  instruction,  of  political  sanity,  of 
patriotism,  of  pure  home,  of  self-help,  and 
pointing  upward  perpetually,  not  to  a 
priesthood,  not  to  the  dome  of  St.  Peter, 
but  to  the  unobscured  celestial  constella¬ 
tions  with  whose  motions  our  political  and 
educational  movements  must  harmonize 
or  end  at  last  in  chaos.” 

Old  Carlyle,  sitting  in  his  study  across 
the  sea,  uttered  one  day  a  sentence  which 
should  make  us  think :  “  My  severest 
criticism,”  said  he,  “on  America  is  this: 
There  the  vote  of  a  Judas  is  as  potent  and 
decisive  as  the  vote  of  a  Jesus.”  In  his 
recent  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  T reas- 
ury,  Surgeon-General  Hamilton  declares 
that  “  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  in 
which  citizenship  is  so  cheaply  obtained 
as  in  the  United  States,”  and  brings  to 
attention  the  fact  of  the  fifteen  insane  per¬ 
sons  and  eleven  idiots  reported  on  a  given 
occasion  by  the  medical  officer  at  New 
York,  four  of  the  idiots  and  all  of  the  in¬ 
sane  were  allowed  to  land  ;  and  that  while 

only  three  thousand  three  hundred  and 

181 


Immigration  anD  Christianity 


sixty  men  skilled  in  the  professions  and 
fifty-nine  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
eighty-five  skilled  laborers  came  into  our 
country  last  year,  there  were  among  the 
immigrants  about  three  hundred  thousand 
common  laborers  and  “  miscellaneous. ” 
In  Dorchester’s  “  Problem  of  Religious 
Progress”  we  are  told,  and  doubtless  cor¬ 
rectly,  that  seventy-four  per  cent,  of  the 
Irish  discharged  convicts  have  found  their 
way  to  America. 

A  careful  author  has  calculated  and  found 
that  taking  the  annual  average  immigra¬ 
tion  for  the  seven  years  from  1874  to  1881 
as  compared  with  that  of  the  like  period 
from  1882  to  1889  it  is  found  that  immigra¬ 
tion  from  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  in¬ 
creased  only  sixty-seven  and  eight-tenths 
per  cent.,  and  that  from  Germany  only 
seventy-six  and  seven-tenths,  while  that 
from  Poland  increased  one  hundred  and 
sixty-six  per  cent.,  that  from  Italy  two 
hundred  and  eighty-six  per  cent.,  that  from 
Russia  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  per 
cent.,  and  that  from  Hungary  four  hundred 

and  seventy-six  per  cent.  In  1870  our  im- 

182 


B  Stubs  of  Criminal  IRecotDs 


migrants  from  Austria,  Hungary,  Italy, 
Poland,  and  Russia  were  only  three  thou¬ 
sand  five  hundred,  while  from  England, 
France,  Germany,  and  Scandinavia  there 
were  two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  and 
eighty-three ;  in  1892  immigration  from 
these  former  countries  was  two  hundred 
and  fifty-nine  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
sixty-seven,  while  from  the  latter  coun¬ 
tries  three  hundred  and  twelve  thousand 
six  hundred  and  one. 

A  study  of  our  criminal  records  reveals 
facts  that  are  startling  in  the  extreme. 
Consider  such  as  these  :  The 
number  of  men  and  women 
in  our  American  penitentia¬ 
ries  in  1890  was  larger  by  about  ten  thou¬ 
sand  than  that  of  our  convicts  in  1880,  and 
the  convictions  for  crime  in  1890  exceeded 
those  in  1880  by  eleven  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  forty-one.  In  1850,  with 
our  population  of  twenty-three  million, 
fewer  than  seven  thousand  convicts  were  in 
our  jails  and  penitentiaries  ;  in  i860,  with 
our  population  of  thirty-one  million  the 
number  had  increased  to  nineteen  thou- 

183 


Hmmigration  anb  Christianity 


sand ;  in  1870,  with  our  population  of 
thirty-eight  million,  we  had  thirty-two 
thousand  prisoners ;  in  1880,  with  our 
population  of  fifty  million,  we  had  fifty- 
eight  thousand  prisoners ;  and  there  is 
reason  to  fear  that  when  all  the  returns 
now  collecting  are  in,  we  shall  have  re¬ 
vealed  the  awful  condition  of  things  which 
shows  about  seventy-five  thousand  con¬ 
victed  criminals  among  a  population  of 
about  sixty-four  million.  Most  painfully 
significant  is  all  this,  in  connection  with 
our  so-called  free  and  glorious  American 
nation,  when  we  recall  the  fact  that  the 
criminal  convictions  in  England  were  nine 
thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-eight  in 
1889,  as  against  fifteen  thousand  and 
thirty-seven  in  1868 ;  in  Scotland  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  three,  as 
against  two  thousand  four  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  ;  and  in  Ireland  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  ten  as  against  three 
thousand  and  twenty-six. 

How  do  we  account  for  this  large  in¬ 
crease  of  crime  in  America  ?  Let  Prof. 

Boyesen — himself  a  foreigner — answer  our 

184 


B  StuDg  of  Criminal  IRecorDs 


question  in  a  few  sentences  from  his  calm, 
conservative  address  before  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in 
Washington  in  1887  : 

Recent  statistics  prove  that  our  immigration  is 
being  drawn  from  lower  and  lower  strata  of  Euro¬ 
pean  society.  Formerly  we  received  the  majority 
of  our  Italian  immigration  from  Parma  and  the 
northern  provinces, — Piedmont,  Tuscany,  and 
Lombardy — where  the  people,  as  a  rule,  are  self- 
respecting  and  industrious ;  but  during  recent 
years  Naples  and  the  province  of  Sicily  have  taken 
the  lead  and  poured  down  upon  us  a  torrent  of 
peanut  venders  and  organ-grinders.  Since  1880 
the  Italians  have  nearly  trebled  their  numbers,  and 
the  Bohemians,  Poles,  and  Hungarians  have 
powerfully  reinforced  and  are  daily  reinforcing  our 
growing  army  of  discontent  and  disorder,  as  they 
import  all  sorts  of  notions,  religious,  irreligious, 
anarchic,  socialistic,  nihilistic.  They  have  but 
little  regard  for  the  Sabbath,  almost  no  knowledge 
of  and  less  reverence  for  the  Bible,  and  are  totally 
ignorant  of  the  Anglo-American  ideas  of  civil 
liberty  and  spiritual  religion. 

Awfully  significant  all  this  is  when  we 
recall  that  of  our  immigration  last  year  the 
number  of  persons  who  could  not  read  nor 
write  their  own  language  in  each  one  hun- 

185 


Immigration  attD  Christianity 


dred  was  in  this  proportion  :  from  Sweden, 
one;  from  Norway,  Scotland,  and  Ger¬ 
many,  two ;  from  England,  three ;  from  Ire¬ 
land,  seven  ;  from  Hungary,  twenty-five  ; 
from  Russia,  twenty-six  ;  from  Poland, 
twenty-eight ;  and  from  Italy  thirty-six. 

And  consonant  with  the  sentiment  of 
Boyeson  just  quoted  is  the  testimony  of 
Prof.  James  Bryce  also,  in  his  masterful 
“American  Commonwealth, ”  in  which 
he  declares  that  these  immigrants  are,  in 
many  cases,  ignorant  of  our  country,  our 
statesmen,  and  our  political  issues,  and 
also  affirms  that  to  let  such  become  citi¬ 
zens  is  to  make  a  foolish  sacrifice  of  com¬ 
mon  sense  to  abstract  principles.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  one  of  the  most  gifted 
editors  of  our  land  should  have  given  ex¬ 
pression  last  month  after  the  disgraceful 
crimes  of  Italians  in  Louisiana’s  beautiful 
metropolis,  to  the  generally  recognized 
thought  that  “thousands  and  thousands 
of  this  vast  total  of  immigrants  are  men 
and  women  undesirable  from  every  point 
of  view.”  No  wonder  that  skepticism, 

Mormonism,  Romanism,  socialism,  nihil  - 

186 


B  5tu£>£  of  Criminal  IRecorbe 


ism,  illiteracy,  intemperance,  Sabbath 
desecration,  each  nourished  and  strength¬ 
ened  by  the  miserable  and  misery-creat¬ 
ing  elements  from  abroad,  menace  the 
free  institutions  of  our  land  and  threaten 
the  very  life  of  our  national  government 
and  our  God-given  religion.  No  wonder 
that  in  the  presence  of  all  the  corrupt  and 
corrupting  influences  from  anarchical  rev¬ 
olutionists  in  Chicago  and  communistic 
insurrectionists  in  Pennsylvania  and  the 
Mafia  organizations  in  New  Orleans,  one 
of  the  dominant  questions  before  us  to¬ 
day — a  question  arresting  the  attention 
and  demanding  the  consideration  of  every 
patriot  that  loves  his  country,  every  phi¬ 
lanthropist  that  loves  his  fellow,  and  every 
Christian  that  loves  his  God — is  this : 
How  shall  we  Americanize  these  hetero¬ 
geneous  and  discordant  elements  before 
they  foreignize  us  ?  How  Christianize 
them  before  they  demoralize  us  ?  How 
save  them  before  they  sink  us  ? 

Important,  absorbing  question  this  be¬ 
fore  our  republic  to-day  !  Phillips  Brooks 

uttered  recently  sentiments  on  the  ques- 

187 


Immigration  anfc  Christianity 


tion,  which  it  were  well  to  have  engraved 
on  the  heart  and  memory  of 
Bn  Bbsorbtng  American  citizens.  May  1  be 
©ueetion  permitted  to  quote  them  in 

full  ?  Says  he  : 

No  nation,  as  no  man,  has  a  right  to  take  pos¬ 
session  of  a  choice  bit  of  God’s  earth,  to  exclude 
the  foreigner  from  its  territory,  that  it  may  live 
more  comfortably  and  be  a  little  more  at  peace. 
But  if  to  this  particular  nation  there  has  been  given 
the  development  of  a  certain  part  of  God’s  earth 
for  universal  purposes,  if  the  world  in  the  great 
march  of  centuries  is  going  to  be  richer  for  the 
development  of  a  certain  national  character,  built 
up  by  a  larger  type  of  manhood  here,  then  for  the 
world’s  sake,  for  the  sake  of  every  nation  that 
would  pour  in  upon  that  which  would  disturb  that 
development,  we  have  a  right  to  stand  guard  over 
it.  We  are  to  develop  here  in  America  a  type  of 
national  character,  we  believe,  for  which  the  world 
is  to  be  richer  always.  It  may  be  the  last  great  ex¬ 
periment  for  God’s  wandering  humanity  upon 
earth.  We  have  a  right  to  stand  guard  over  the 
conditions  of  that  experiment,  letting  nothing  inter¬ 
fere  with  it,  drawing  into  it  the  richness  that  is  to 
come  by  the  entrance  of  many  men  from  many 
nations,  and  they  in  sympathy  with  our  constitu¬ 
tion  and  laws. 

And  how,  we  ask,  is  this  desired  end  to 

1 88 


XL  be  Tlnfluence  of  tbe  (Sospel 


be  accomplished  ?  To  this  supreme  query 
of  our  American  Govern¬ 
ment  there  is,  it  seems  to  Ub*^n«uc!!cf ot 

’  tbe  ©ospel 

me,  but  one  well-founded, 
satisfactory  answer.  It  is  this  :  The  im¬ 
migration  problem  can  never  be  solved  ; 
these  foreign  elements,  by  nature  and  by 
education  antagonistic  to  our  civilization, 
can  never  be  controlled  ;  this  mighty  in¬ 
flux  that  threatens  the  integrity  of  our 
free  institutions  can  never  be  turned  into 
channels  safe  and  salutary,  except  through 
the  omnific  power  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  both  Sovereign  and  Saviour 
— that  gospel  which,  in  Talleyrand’s  day, 
and  according  to  his  own  admission,  made 
Geneva  the  grain  of  musk  that  perfumed 
all  Europe. 

Much,  I  grant,  may  be  accomplished 
toward  the  settlement  of  this  question  by 
legislative  acts  which  would  more  rigidly 
keep  from  being  dumped  on  our  shores  all 
of  the  crime  and  pauperism  which  now 
inundate  us  ;  much  also,  by  requiring  each 
immigrant  who  lands  to  show  from  some 

accredited  diplomatic  representative  a  cer- 

189 


Immigration  anD  Cbrietianit^ 


tificate  that  he  sympathizes  with  and  will 
be  on  the  side  of  the  existing  laws  of  the 
United  States;  much  too,  by  the  enact¬ 
ment  of  a  law  which  will  allow  no  adult 
immigrant  to  land  on  our  shores  who  can¬ 
not  prove  his  intelligence  and  training  by 
his  ability  to  read  and  write  in  his  own 
native  language  ;  much  also,  by  demand¬ 
ing  that  the  time  for  naturalization  be  ex¬ 
tended  and  educational  qualifications  pre¬ 
scribed  for  suffrage  ;  much  too,  by  just, 
heroic  legal  measures  which  shall  punish 
all  from  abroad,  as  all  born  at  home,  who 
shall  break  our  laws ;  more  still  may  be 
wrought  through  the  agency  of  our  noble 
system  of  popular  education,  with  its  ele¬ 
vating  and  refining  influences.  But  each 
of  these,  as  of  all  of  these  combined,  is 
insufficient,  because  they  are  remedies 
local,  external,  evanescent,  touching  only 
the  surface  of  life,  while  that  which  hu¬ 
manity  demands  for  its  essential  ameliora¬ 
tion,  individual  and  national,  is  some 
mighty,  majestic,  permeating,  permanent 
principle  which  is  internal  and  motive- 

producing,  “some  supreme  energy  de- 

190 


Zbc  Unfluence  of  tbe  <3ospel 


scending  from  the  heights  of  the  creative 
and  kingly  authority  that  resides  in 
heaven. ”  Believe  me,  men  and  women, 
fathers  and  brethren,  this  mighty  mass  of 
heterogeneous  material  can  never  be  so¬ 
lidified  and  unified,  naturalized  and  Amer¬ 
icanized,  saved  and  made  safe,  except 
through  the  genial  yet  powerful  influences 
of  the  regenerating  and  reforming  princi¬ 
ples  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.  Not 
through  immigration  laws,  however  just 
they  may  be ;  nor  through  our  public 
schools  and  our  colleges,  however  well 
equipped  ;  nor  through  any  other  agency  of 
association  looking  toward  social  and  edu¬ 
cational  elevation  ;  but  through  the  gospel 
alone.  Evangelization  is  the  only  salva¬ 
tion.  All  external  means  are  powerless 
save  as  they  are  permeated  and  animated, 
sustained  and  guided,  by  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  Is  it  true,  as  stated,  that  while  it 
requires  one  hundred  thousand  gendarmes 
and  troops  to  keep  Paris  in  order,  three 
thousand  policemen  suffice  for  London,  a 
city  twice  the  size  of  Paris  ?  And  why  ? 

Because  while  the  people  of  the  former  city 

191 


Immigration  anD  Christianity 


have  flung  away  from  heart  and  life  the 
words  of  the  mighty  Master  of  the  ages, 
the  queen  of  the  latter  people  proudly  takes 
up  and  holds  up  before  a  pagan  ambassador 
the  word  of  life,  and  says  with  reverence, 
“  The  Bible  is  the  secret  of  England’s 
greatness  and  England’s  glory.” 

Only  yesterday  I  met  with  this  sugges¬ 
tive  illustration  : 

In  one  of  the  Southern  States  there  is  a  deep 
basin  hid  between  lofty  mountain  peaks,  and  at 
the  bottom  of  the  chasm  lies  a  beautiful  lake, 
which  receives  the  waters  from  the  mountain 
sides — streams  from  the  east  and  the  west  and 
the  north  and  the  south  plunging  down  to  feed  the 
sleeping  reservoir.  But  with  all  the  refuse  of  the 
earth  which  finds  a  hiding-place  there,  the  lake  is 
always  pure  and  sweet,  because  it  has  a  subterra¬ 
nean  connection  with  the  sea,  and  is  thereby  kept 
in  healthful  motion  by  the  ocean’s  tides.  From  all 
shores  comes  the  stream  of  immigration  into  the 
social  and  political  reservoir  of  American  life.  It 
is  sometimes  a  troubled  pool,  sometimes  a  crucible 
of  war,  sometimes  a  laboratory  of  dark  problems  ; 
but  if  we  can  only  keep  its  waters  in  the  throb  of 
the  great  sea  of  faith  and  love  which  touches 
here  the  doors  of  the  Christian  church,  and  yon¬ 
der  the  gates  of  heaven,  much  of  righteousness 

192 


Gbe  influence  of  tbe  (Sospel 


can  be  eliminated  and  our  nation  saved  to  honor, 
truth,  and  God. 

And  realizing  that  the  only  hope  of  our 
nation  in  these  critical  periods  is  the  gos¬ 
pel,  our  noble  American  Baptist  Home 
Mission  Society  is  devoting  its  mightiest, 
most  consecrated  energies  to  the  dissemi¬ 
nation  all  over  our  country  of  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus.  As  Helena,  the  queen 
mother,  when  searching  for  the  true  cross 
on  Golgotha,  arranged  a  line  of  beacons 
from  Jerusalem  to  Constantinople,  and 
bade  the  watchers  light  the  resinous  gum 
when  the  holy  wood  should  be  found,  so 
our  Society  is  marshaling  its  forces  as 
never  before,  to  seek,  not  in  Jerusalem 
the  decaying  wood,  but  in  America  the 
everlasting  glory  of  the  Redeemer’s  cross, 
that  its  light  might  shine  with  effulgence 
divine  among  all  the  unchurched  people 
of  our  Eastern  States,  and  all  the  church¬ 
less  people  of  our  Western  territory,  un¬ 
til  the  broad  domain  of  our  American  Re¬ 
public  shall  be  full  of  the  light  of  Jehovah 
and  beautified  with  the  resplendent  beams 

of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
n  193 


Hmmigratton  anD  Christianity 


And  in  two  ways,  let  me  emphasize  in 
conclusion,  does  this  gospel  of  the  Son  of 
God  meet  the  question  before  us  in  con¬ 
nection  with  our  foreign  population  : 

First,  by  the  personal  regeneration,  the 
moral  elevation,  and  the  spiritual  culture 
of  these  diverse  and  natu- 

ift generation  ra,,y  diverging  elements.  A 
great  English  statesman, 
some  fifty  years  ago,  predicted  that 
through  the  usurpation  of  some  modern 
Caesar  or  Napoleon,  or  by  the  inroads  of 
some  modern  Goths  and  Vandals,  the  owls 
and  bats  of  ruin  would,  in  the  coming 
century,  brood  over  the  mutilated  and 
demolished  magnificence  of  our  national 
capitol,  and  the  bards  of  succeeding  time 
sing  the  sad  story  of  the  decline  and  fall 
of  the  American  Commonwealth.  The 
prediction,  I  believe,  will  be  unfulfilled. 
Our  land  shall  long  stand  as  an  arena  of 
Jehovah’s  mightiest  efforts  in  these  ends 
of  the  earth  in  behalf  of  the  human  race. 
But  let  us  realize  this,  that  our  only  safety 
from  this  tremendous  calamity  is  fidelity 

to  God  and  his  eternal  word,  fearless  and 

194 


Ipersonal  IRegeneraticm 

constant  emphasis  upon  and  illustration  of 
personal  repentance,  personal  faith,  per¬ 
sonal  regeneration.  In  his  divine  govern¬ 
ment,  intelligently  declares  a  Christian 
journal,  Christ  reconstructed  society  by 
regulating  men’s  hearts,  teaching  that  the 
only  way  to  secure  better  conditions  is  to 
get  better  people,  since  if  the  units  are 
right  the  masses  cannot  fail  to  be  right. 
And  so  our  Lord  emphasized  and  reiterated 
individual,  personal,  conscious  regenera¬ 
tion  through  the  presence  and  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  He  knew  that  right¬ 
eousness  alone  exalted  a  nation,  that 
righteousness  alone  is  the  palladium  of 
empire  or  republic.  Not  law  nor  litera¬ 
ture,  nor  art  nor  armies,  nor  poetry  nor 
philosophy,  nor  revenue,  nor  reason,  but 
truth,  integrity,  honor, — personal,  inalien¬ 
able,  incorruptible,  untransmissible, — and 
these  crowned  by  the  favor  of  Him  who 
sitteth  in  the  broad  circle  of  national  life 
and  swayeth  his  scepter  over  the  children 
of  men.  The  salvation  of  a  nation  de¬ 
pends  upon  the  salvation  of  the  units  com¬ 
posing  it,  and  these  units  the  gospel  can 

i95 


Immigration  anD  Christianity 


make  of  men  who  gladly  place  principle 
above  party,  religion  above  revenue,  mo¬ 
rality  above  money,  and  character  above 
circumstance — 

Tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog 

In  public  duty  and  in  private  thinking. 

As  the  Roman  Empire  was  conquered 
by  Christianity,  as  one  by  one  men  and 
women  out  of  that  empire  became  sons  of 
God  and  heirs  of  immortality, — now  a 
mantuamaker  and  now  a  jailer,  now  a 
Dionysius  and  now  a  Damaris, — so  also 
must  America  be  redeemed,  and  her  het¬ 
erogeneous  masses  of  people  be  saved. 
The  personal  method  of  Jesus  Christ,  not 
the  national  method  of  Constantine,  or  of 
Charlemagne,  or  of  Xavier,  is  the  true 
and  effective  method.  By  it,  and  it  alone, 
shall  our  immigration  problem  be  solved, 
labor  and  capital  reconciled,  the  American 
Sabbath  restored,  the  infamous  traffic  in 
liquor  annihilated,  the  mighty  and  grow¬ 
ing  revolutions  of  anarchists,  communists, 
and  nihilists  controlled,  and  our  whole 

government,  lifted  to  an  exalted  height  of 

196 


Christianity  Blone  a  IRemeDy 


social  and  national  honor,  made,  as  far  as 
practicable,  an  image  of  the  divine  sover¬ 
eignty  above.  Truly  has  Goldwin  Smith 
declared,  “  Not  democracy  in  America, 
but  free  Christianity  in  America,  is  the 
real  key  of  American  glory. ” 

Secondly,  as  our  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society  realizes,  Chris¬ 
tianity  alone  can  prevail  in 

uniting  and  solidifying  the  Xfa'mmets 
numerous  classes  of  our  for¬ 
eign  population.  There  is  no  need  to 
argue  that  a  nation,  in  order  to  be  pros¬ 
perous,  must  be  united.  Forcefully  has 
Richard  Mayo  Skith,  in  his  recent  work 
on  “Emigration  and  Immigration,”  after 
quoting  Edmund  Burke’s  memorable  say¬ 
ing,  that  to  make  us  love  our  country  our 
country  ought  to  be  lovely,  emphasized 
the  thought  that  in  order  that  we  may 
take  a  pride  in  our  nationality  and  be  will¬ 
ing  to  make  sacrifices  for  our  country,  it 
is  necessary  that  it  should  satisfy,  in 
some  measure,  our  ideal  of  what  a  nation 
should  be ;  and  then  our  author  intelli¬ 
gently  adds :  “A  nation  is  great,  not  on 

i97 


Hmmigration  and  Christianity 


account  of  the  individuals  contained  within 
its  boundaries,  but  through  the  strength 
begotten  of  common  national  ideals  and 
aspirations.  No  nation  can  exist  and  be 
powerful  that  is  not  homogeneous  in  this 
sense.  And  the  great  ethnic  problem  we 
have  before  us  is  to  fuse  these  diverse 
elements  into  one  common  nationality, 
having  one  language,  one  political  prac¬ 
tice,  one  patriotism,  and  one  ideal  of  social 
development/’  And  this  the  gospel  can 
do  as  can  no  other  force.  It  knows  no 
such  distinction  as  Jew  and  Gentile,  Ger¬ 
man  and  Italian,  Slavonian  and  Scandi¬ 
navian,  African  and  American.  Paul  on 
Mars  Hill  pricked  the  bubble  of  the  autoch- 
thonic  theory  of  the  Greeks  with  a  single 
sentence  in  his  matchless  address,  “God 
hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations” — the 
scholarly,  refined,  philosophical  Greek ; 
the  brave,  heroic,  ambitious  Roman  ;  the 
rude,  savage,  uncultured  Cythian.  Along 
with  the  doctrine  of  Jehovah’s  exalted 
Fatherhood  Christ  inculcated  the  correla¬ 
tive  doctrine  of  humanity’s  sympathetic 

brotherhood,  the  mighty,  divinely  given 

198 


Christianity  Blone  a  IRemeDy 


law  of  human  interdependence,  the 
heaven-born  teaching  that  the  whole 
social  fabric,  from  base  to  apex,  is  a 
compact  and  finely  knit  organism.  Or, 
as  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  has  beautifully  put 
it  in  his  “Light  of  the  World,”  our  Lord 
taught  that 

He  who  loves  his  brother,  seen  and  known. 

Loves  God,  unseen,  unknown  ;  and  who,  by  faith, 
Finds  the  far  Father  in  the  close,  sweet  Son, 

Is  one  with  both. 

In  his  attractive  work  on  “  The  Divine 
Origin  of  Christianity,”  Dr.  Richard  S. 
Storrs,  dealing  with  this  subject,  predicts 
that  the  coming  ages  will  present,  through 

f 

the  influence  of  our  divine  religion,  a  unity 
such  as  was  never  dreamed  of  by  the  Ro¬ 
man  Empire  when  it  strove  to  bring  all  na¬ 
tions  under  its  sway,  nor  by  Charlemagne 
when  he  sought  to  unite  disorganized  Eu¬ 
rope,  nor  by  Napoleon  I.,  when  he  fought 
to  bring  a  continent  in  submission  to  his 
sovereignty ;  and  he  confidently  looks 
forward  to  the  consummation  of  a  plan 
when,  as  he  eloquently  says,  “the  differ¬ 
ent  nations,  each  with  its  idioms  of  custom 

199 


Immigration  anfc  Christianity 


and  language,  shall  be  united  in  a  bond  of 
peace  which  knows  no  suspicion  and  ad¬ 
mits  no  suspension,  because  resulting 
from  the  voluntary  subjection  of  each  and 
all  to  the  rule  of  a  common  King,  the 
Lord  of  hosts.”  Naturalism  may  attribute 
the  present  increasing  fraternization  of  the 
races  to  the  rough  collision  of  arms,  to 
skillful  invention,  to  widespread  com¬ 
merce,  or  to  other  great  industrial  move¬ 
ments  of  modern  civilization ;  but  the 
intelligent  Christian  knows  that  it  is  the 
result  rather  of  divine  teaching  in  Chris¬ 
tianity  that  “the  fellowship  of  humanity 
is  deeper  and  mightier  than  the  aliena¬ 
tions  of  race  ;  that  the  characteristics  of 
humanity  are  essential  and  permanent, 
the  differences  of  race  accidental  and 
evanescent ;  that  the  mighty  race  prej¬ 
udice  must  give  way  as  men,  alien  by 
birth,  find  themselves  brethren  in  Jesus 
Christ.”  Yes,  it  is  a  Christ-wrought  pic¬ 
ture  portrayed  by  a  Christian  poet  when 
he  sings : 

For  I  dipt  into  the  future  far  as  human  eye  could 
see, 


200 


Christianity  Blone  a  IRcmeDy 


Saw  the  Vision  of  the  world,  and  all  the  wonder 
that  would  be ; 

»!«••••• 

Till  the  war-drum  throbbed  no  longer,  and  the 
battle-flags  were  furled 

In  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  Federation  of  the 
world. 

God  speed  the  day  when  every  kindred 
and  tongue,  and  tribe  and  people — all 
Europe  and  Asia,  Africa  and  America — 
shall  gather  in  sympathetic,  soul-moving 
union  around  the  throne  of  Him  who  hath 
made  them  of  one  blood,  and  there  offer 
the  prayer  and  sing  the  song  of  a  divinely 
formed  and  an  eternally  cemented  brother¬ 
hood  :  “Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven, 
hallowed  be  thy  name.  Thy  kingdom 
come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven.  For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and 
the  power,  and  the  glory  forever.  Amen.” 


201 


* 


THE  SUPREME  MISSION  OF 
BAPTISTS 


t Address  delivered  at  the  Second  Annual  Convention 
of  the  ^Baptist  Young  Peoples’  Union  of 
America,  held  in  Detroit 
July,  1892 


VI 


Ubree  SHsttnct 
lpropoaitlons 


IN  answering  the  question  presented  for 
brief  discussion  at  this  hour,  What  is 
the  Supreme  Mission  of  Bap¬ 
tists  in  the  World  ?  we 
may,  by  way  of  introduc¬ 
tion,  lay  down  as  fundamental  and  impor¬ 
tant  three  distinct  propositions  : 

First  proposition  :  Everything  from  the 
hand  of  God — whether  animate  or  inani¬ 
mate,  rational  or  irrational,  material  or  im¬ 
material — has  a  mission,  and  that  mission 
definite  and  distinct.  Intelligent  activity 
is  the  law  of  the  universe.  The  whole 
world  of  mind  and  matter,  from  the  first 
to  the  last  link  in  the  long  chain  of  cre¬ 
ation — from  the  lovely  violet  that  blooms 
in  the  valley  to  the  majestic  mountain 
that  towers  above  the  clouds  ;  from  the  in¬ 
significant  mote  that  floats  in  the  sunbeam 
to  the  most  massive  planet  that  adorns  the 

sky — atom  and  insect,  fish  and  bird,  beast 

205 


Gbe  Supreme  emission  of  baptists 


and  man,  all  have  their  appointed  place 
and  plan  and  purpose. 

Nothing  useless  is  or  low, 

Each  thing  in  its  place  is  best ; 

And  what  seems  but  idle  show 
Strengthens  and  supports  the  rest. 

Second  proposition  :  Especially  true  and 
glorious  is  this  law  in  relation  to  man,  the 
highest  expression  of  divine  wisdom  and 
power.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  the  di¬ 
vine  creation  of  natural  adaptations  ;  by 
which  I  mean  to  say,  that  every  person 
is  the  expression  of  a  divine  purpose  de¬ 
signed  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  special 
work.  In  other  words,  if  each  of  our  na¬ 
tures  could  be  taken  to  pieces  and  minutely 
studied,  even  as  the  skillful  jeweler  ex¬ 
amines  the  chronometer  of  Geneva  or 
Liverpool  or  Waltham,  there  would  be  pal¬ 
pable  to  every  intelligent  observer  an  in¬ 
genious  construction  of  faculties  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  performance  of  some  specific 
life-work.  God  has  no  more  created  a  hu¬ 
man  being  with  nothing  to  do  than  he  has 

created  a  planet  with  no  calling  to  motion, 

206 


Gbree  Distinct  propositions 


or  an  animal  with  no  vocation  to  action. 
The  truly  abnormal  thing  among  men  is 
the  idle,  doleless  creature,  without  aspira¬ 
tion  and  inspiration,  without  a  noble  oc¬ 
cupation  and  an  exalted  aim.  The  God 
of  heaven  looks  humanity  in  the  face,  and 
says,  as  he  takes  a  full  survey  of  its  broad 
circle  of  existence,  “  To  every  man  his 
own  work  ” — a  work  which  he  himself 
must  do  or  allow  to  remain  undone  for¬ 
ever. 

Third  proposition :  As  with  man,  so 
also  with  the  system  of  truth  given  to 
man,  each  has  its  special  purpose,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  character  and  end  of  the  truth 
revealed.  For  instance,  Judaism  was  in¬ 
stituted  among  a  chosen  race  to  teach, 
amid  all  the  polytheism  of  its  day,  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  true  and  living  God,  and  to 
prepare  the  world  for  the  marvelous,  mi¬ 
raculous,  majestic  scene  of  divinity  in 
humanity  ;  while  Christianity,  succeeding 
it,  was  to  proclaim  in  clearer  notes  and 
with  a  wider  sweep  of  vision  a  universal 
religion  of  grace  and  love  for  the  aspiring 

brotherhood  of  man.  No  truth  of  nature, 

207 


flbe  Supreme  fflltssion  of  Baptists 


of  providence,  of  revelation,  is  without  an 
elevating  and  ennobling  mission. 

Now,  among  the  prominent  systems  of 
religious  truth  conspicuous  in  our  day  and 

generation,  we  find  one 
sap  fists  ant>  ujetr  pnown  the  world  as  Bap- 

flRisslort  * 

tist — a  name,  by  the  way, 
given  to  a  body  of  Christians  centuries 
ago,  not  by  themselves,  but  by  their 
enemies,  but  accepted  now  as,  in  part  at 
least,  expressive  and  significant.  This 
system  is  embraced  by  a  people,  more 
than  four  million  in  numbers,  and  with  a 
gain  last  year,  in  this  land  alone,  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand.1 


1  Taking  a  survey  of  Baptist  interests  in  the  United  States 
we  discover  among  its  3,820,000  members,  41,000  church  or¬ 
ganizations,  28,000  ordained  ministers,  7  theological  semi¬ 
naries,  with  $3,500,000  property  ;  27  educational  institutions 
for  women,  with  $1,500,000  property  ;  51  seminaries  and  acade¬ 
mies,  with  $3,000,000  worth  of  property  ;  and  36  universities 
and  colleges,  with  $16,000,000  worth  of  property  ;  while  130 
periodicals  among  us  devote  their  energy  to  the  uplifting  of 
the  race  and  the  glory  of  God.  The  growth  of  Baptists  has 
been  phenomenal,  especially  in  America.  In  1784  there  was  1 
Baptist  in  our  country  to  92  of  the  population  ;  in  x8xo,  1  to 
42 ;  in  1840,  1  to  30 ;  in  i860,  1  to  22.  Multiplying  our  total 
membership  by  three,  we  can  safely  estimate  the  number  of 
people  in  the  United  States  that  have  Baptist  affinities  to  be  no 
fewer  than  12,000,000. 


208 


^Baptists  anD  Gbetr  fffhssion 


This  people  stand  up  and  out  before  the 
world  for  certain  marked  and  remarkable 
features  of  faith  and  practice.  With  char¬ 
acteristic  grace  and  liberality  Dr.  George 
Dana  Boardman,  of  Philadelphia,  summa¬ 
rizes  the  various  Christian  denominations 
thus  : 

Romanism  gives  play  to  the  sense  side  of  re¬ 
ligion  ;  Episcopacy  to  the  aesthetic  side ;  Pres¬ 
byterianism  to  the  theological  side  ;  Methodism  to 
the  active  side ;  Quakerism  to  the  passive  side ; 
Congregationalism  to  the  independent  side ;  while 
Baptists  emphasize  and  illustrate  the  exact  side. 

The  characterization,  so  far  at  least  as 
Baptists  are  concerned,  is,  I  believe,  ab¬ 
solutely  and  gloriously  correct.  As  a  de¬ 
nomination  we  are  marked  by  a  certain 
exactness  in  theological  belief  and  eccle¬ 
siastical  polity  and  practice  unknown,  it 
seems  to  me,  to  any  other  religious  system 
besides  our  own — an  exactness  so  universal 
and  so  distinguishing  that  the  very  name 
Baptist  is  a  synonym  for  something  def¬ 
inite,  distinct,  decided,  differentiating, 
dutiful,  and  that  something  always  and 

everywhere  the  same, 
o  209 


Z be  Supreme  ffllisston  ot  baptists 


We  are  interested  then,  in  asking,  What 
is  the  supreme  mission  of  this  people  ? 
As  a  body,  what  is  their  characteristic 
tenet  ?  As  an  organization,  what  is  their 
peculiar  work  ?  As  a  system,  what  is 
their  dominant  principle — mark,  I  say 
principle,  not  principles — what  is  the  one 
dominant  principle  that  underlies  the  de¬ 
nomination,  the  natural  and  logical  in¬ 
fluence  of  which  is  to  produce  a  class  of 
Christians  such  as  Baptists  ?  What  would 
the  world  gain,  or  what  lose,  were  our  fun¬ 
damental,  determining  principle  carried  out 
to  its  legitimate  results,  accumulating  force 
and  power  with  each  revolving  age  ?  In 
short,  what  does  the  great  body  of  more 
than  four  million  stand  for  and  battle  for, 
like  Cromwell’s  Ironsides,  in  the  fear  of 
God  and  without  the  fear  of  man  ? 

The  inquiry  is  most  important ;  let  us 
seek  to  answer  it  fervidly  but  not  fiercely, 
courageously  but  not  controversially,  bib¬ 
lically  but  not  bigotedly,  without  reserve 
as  to  what  we  believe  but  not  without  re¬ 
spect  for  what  others  believe,  contending 

for  truth  rather  than  for  victory. 

210 


baptists  anb  Gbetr  flllssion 


Now,  if  I  interpret  aright  the  genesis 
and  genius,  the  principle  and  purpose  of 
our  own  beloved  denomination — God  bless 
it  and  cause  his  face  ever  to  shine  upon  it ! 
— its  supreme  mission  may  be  expressed 
in  a  single  sentence,  and  that  sentence 
this :  to  maintain  in  its  own  ranks  and 
to  propagate  and  develop  among  others 
absolute  and  inviolable  loyalty  to  God’s 
word,  both  in  creed  and  in  deed.  Permit 
me  to  repeat  this  sentence,  for  it  embodies 
the  basal  idea  of  our  whole  system  ;  to 
maintain  among  ourselves,  and  to  propa¬ 
gate  and  develop  among  others  absolute 
loyalty  to  God’s  word  in  belief  and  in 
life  ;  to  win  the  world  to  Christ,  to  develop 
the  church  of  God,  and  to  advance  hu¬ 
manity  in  the  highest  principles  of  Chris¬ 
tian  civilization  upon  the  basis  and  through 
the  agency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the 
sufficient  and  final  revelation  of  God’s 
will  and  way  to  man  ;  this  one,  definite, 
exalted  aim  and  end  comprehending  all 
else  connected  with  our  faith,  even  as  the 
tubes  of  the  telescope  comprehend  within 
themselves  the  far-away  fields  of  heavenly 

21  I 


XTbe  Supreme  flUissioit  of  JSaptists 


space.  We  believe,  as  another  has  so 
well  expressed  it,  that 

Christianity  and  the  Scriptures  are  inseparably 
identified  ;  that  Christianity  has  no  real  nor  vital 
existence  apart  from  the  inspired  records  ;  that  the 
divine  oracles  are  of  universal  obligatoriness  ;  that 
every  appeal  to  human  authority,  to  public  opinion, 
to  convenience  or  worldly  propriety,  as  a  means 
of  disobedience  to  divine  commands,  or  of  pallia¬ 
tion  or  modification  of  the  strictness  of  divine  law, 
is  a  departure,  more  or  less  criminal,  from  what 
has  been  prescribed  in  the  word  of  God. 

With  no  uncertain  sound  Baptists  have 
ever  declared  that  the  foundation  of  all 
true  religion  is  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus, 
and  that  truth  unchanged  and  unchange¬ 
able  ;  that  the  Bible  is  the  only  divine 
standard  of  piety  and  only  true  code  of 
morals ;  that  the  principles  of  the  old 
book  are  eternal,  its  law  divine,  and  its 
obligations  binding. 

More  than  this  :  we  hold  with  an  un¬ 
wavering  tenacity  to  the  conviction  that 
this  word  in  its  absolute  entirety  must  be 
believed,  defended,  obeyed.  Indeed,  our 

separation  from  other  Christian  denomina- 

212 


baptists  anD  Ebetr  mitsston 


tions  is  most  pronounced  and  conspicuous 
just  here — not,  as  it  is  too  often  thought 
by  those  who  put  things  incidental  in  the 
plan  of  things  fundamental,  or  who  sub¬ 
stitute  effect  for  cause,  not  in  a  regenerated 
church-membership,  nor  in  the  apostolic 
action  and  subjects  of  baptism,  nor  in  the 
independency  of  the  churches,  nor  in  lib¬ 
erty  of  conscience,  nor  in  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State  ;  but  rather  in  this,  out 
of  which  all  these  great  teachings  come, 
as  light  from  the  sun  and  leaves  from  the 
sap,  this  :  the  supreme  authority  of  the 
Scriptures  in  all  matters  of  Christian  faith 
and  practice — our  banner  bearing  ever  this 
God-honoring  motto  :  The  Bible,  no  ad¬ 
dition  to  it,  no  subtraction  from  it,  no 
alteration  in  it  to  the  end  of  time  ;  the 
Bible  uncovered  by  human  ritualism,  un¬ 
tainted  by  human  tradition. 

We  are  rejoiced  to  know,  as  our  own 
Dr.  Strong  has  said,  that 

Baptists  are  not  alone  in  assigning  to  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  a  position  of  authority  in  determining  Chris¬ 
tian  truth,  but  we  do  think  (and  we  have  a  right 
to  think)  that  our  allegiance  to  this  principle  has 

213 


Gbe  Supreme  emission  ot  JBaptlsts 


been  more  consistent  than  that  of  any  other  body. 
We  attach  less  sacredness  to  early  councils,  creeds, 
traditions,  to  church  action,  to  the  consensus  of  re¬ 
ligious  thought,  than  do  other  great  historic  sects 
of  Christendom,  and  we  insist  more  uniformly  and 
confidently  than  they  upon  the  solitary  pre-eminence 
of  the  canonical  record,  believing  that  it  is  sufficient, 
when  rightly  interpreted,  to  guide  men  into  all 
ways  of  truth  and  duty. 

To  quote  Dr.  Wayland’s  memorable 
words  : 

We  profess  to  take  for  our  guide,  in  all  matters 
of  Christian  faith  and  practice,  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  the  whole  New  Testament,  and  nothing  but 
the  New  Testament.  Whatever  we  find  there  we 
esteem  binding  on  our  consciences  ;  whatever  is 
not  there  commended  is  not  binding.  No  matter 
by  what  reverence  for  antiquity,  by  what  tradi¬ 
tion,  by  what  councils,  by  what  consent  any 
branch  of  the  church  or  of  the  whole  church,  at 
any  particular  time  an  opinion  or  practice  may  be 
sustained  by  the  command  or  example  of  Christ 
or  of  his  apostles,  we  value  it  only  as  an  opinion  or 
a  precept  of  man,  and  treat  it  accordingly.  We 
disavow  the  authority  of  man  to  add  to,  or  to 
take  from,  the  teachings  of  inspiration  as  they  are 
found  in  the  New  Testament.  Hence,  to  the  Bap¬ 
tist  all  appeals  to  the  “  Fathers,”  or  to  antiquity,  or 
to  general  practice  in  the  early  centuries  or  in  later 

214 


baptists  anD  ^betr  flUfsefon 


times,  are  irrelevant  and  unsatisfactory.  He  asks 
for  divine  authority,  and  if  this  be  not  produced, 
his  answer  is  ever  this :  “  In  vain  do  ye  worship 
me,  teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of 
men.”  We  are  firm  and  intelligent  believers  in 
the  inspiration  of  both  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
in  the  divine  nature  and  atoning  death  and  glori¬ 
ous  resurrection  and  radiant  ascension  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  the  personality  and  deityhood  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  in  the  depravity  of  man  and  his  need 
of  renewal  from  above,  in  the  preservation  and 
eternal  salvation  of  God’s  children,  in  the  final  and 
endless  punishment  of  the  impenitent,  in  a  spiritual 
church-membership,  in  the  ordinances  of  the 
church  and  their  intelligent  observance  as  insti¬ 
tuted  by  Christ,  both  as  to  form  and  order,  in  the 
freedom  of  the  local  church  from  all  control,  civil 
and  ecclesiastical,  and  in  the  inalienable  and  glori¬ 
ous  right  of  private  judgment  and  private  interpre¬ 
tation. 

And  all  this,  why  ?  Because  God’s 
word  reveals  it,  and  what  that  word  re¬ 
veals  we  accept,  just  as  what  that  word 
enjoins  we  obey.  As  individuals  gener¬ 
ally,  as  a  denomination  largely,  we  reject 
the  elective  principle  in  biblical  interpre¬ 
tation.  We  seek  for  no  exception,  make 
no  selection,  play  no  part  of  eclectics  in 
accepting  the  Scriptures.  We  discourage 

215 


Zhc  Supreme  emission  of  baptists 


the  tendency,  so  prevalent  to-day,  of  dis¬ 
paraging  faith  in  zeal  to  promote  works, 
of  becoming  latitudinarian  under  the  guise 
of  charity,  of  yielding  to  the  growing 
process  in  some  quarters  of  eliminating 
the  so-called  “  non-essentials  ”  in  Scrip¬ 
ture.  With  Baptists  there  are  no  non- 
essentials  in  God’s  word. 

One  truth  may  be  more  important  and 
more  valuable  than  another,  but  no  reve- 

IRomon.  Iati0n  0f  the  H°'y  SP‘rit 

essentials  in  may  be  slighted  or  ignored. 

Scripture  ^  was  mjghty  Master  of 

the  ages  and  the  Sovereign  Saviour  of 
our  souls  who,  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago,  took  up  the  ancient  scroll  as  we  have 
it  to-day,  composed  of  Law,  Prophecy, 
and  the  Hagiographa,  or  Sacred  Writings, 
and  said,  “It  is  written,”  “The  Scrip¬ 
tures  cannot  be  broken,”  thus  throwing 
the  broad  shield  of  his  infallible  truthful¬ 
ness  over  all  the  parts  of  the  divine  canon 
then  existing ;  and  my  supreme  mission 
in  life,  and  yours,  and  that  of  every  child 
of  God,  is  to  accept,  believe,  illustrate, 

propagate,  defend  this  word  of  truth  just 

216 


Tflo  IRonseesentials  in  Scripture 


as  it  came  from  the  throne  of  God  to  the 
hearts  of  men,  listening  to  no  voice  but 
that  of  Jehovah,  claiming  no  master  but 
Jesus  Christ,  and  having  no  creed  but  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  the  manual  of  our  devo¬ 
tion,  the  oracle  of  our  faith,  the  charter 
of  our  liberty,  the  inspiration  of  our  life. 
Here,  then,  we  have  a  system  whose 
foundation  is  narrowed  down  to  a  single 
point  without  the  possibility  of  its  ever 
being  enlarged.  On  this  eternal  and  im¬ 
mutable  principle,  which  though  so  sim¬ 
ple,  is  as  broad  as  the  universe  and  as 
comprehensive  as  the  wants  of  man  and 
the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  every  true  Baptist 
must  stand,  and  stand  trammeled  by  no 
machinery,  tied  to  no  set  worship,  fettered 
by  no  tradition,  but  free  to  go,  to  come, 
to  think,  to  teach,  to  plan,  to  labor  just  as 
he  may  choose,  provided  only  that  he  cling 
close  to  the  infallible  Oracle  of  heaven, 
called  into  question  by  no  pope  or  bishop, 
proscribed  by  no  conference  or  synod. 

What  is  the  supreme  mission  of  Baptists 
in  the  church  and  in  the  world  ?  This  : 
to  stand 

217 


XLbc  Supreme  fifttssion  of  baptists 


For  the  restoration  of  the  Scriptures  to  their  proper 
place  and  purpose  :  (i)  As  against  the  assaults  of 
rationalists  who  deny  the  possibility  of  revelation  ; 
(2)  as  against  the  Romish  claim  for  tradition  as  of 
equal  authority  with  the  Scriptures  ;  (3)  as  against 
Protestant  creed-makers,  who  formulate  human 
systems  and  make  them  the  basis  of  denomina¬ 
tional  fellowship  and  ecclesiastical  life. 


Far  from  us  to  hold  that  as  a  denomi¬ 
nation  we  are  superior  in  every  respect  to 

ztc  supremacy  other  bodies  of  Christians- 
of  tbe  God  forgive  us,  that  we  are 
scriptures  so  unW0rthy ! — but  we  do 

contend  that,  with  all  our  faults  and  fail¬ 
ings,  we  have  always  stood  bravely  and 
unflinchingly,  in  calm  and  in  storm,  in 
good  report  and  in  evil  report,  for  this  one 
supreme,  all-important  truth,  the  suprem¬ 
acy  of  the  Scriptures.  It  is  our  constant 
and  heroic  attitude  on  this  one  point  that 
has  recently  led  one  of  the  Andover  Theo¬ 
logical  Seminary  professors — the  calm, 
conservative  thinker,  Dr.  Woods — to 
write  in  the  public  press  these  notable 
words : 


I  have  wished  that  our  denomination  were  as 
free  from  erratic  speculations  and  as  well  grounded 

218 


fEbe  Supremacy  of  tbc  Scriptures 


in  the  doctrines  and  experimental  principles  of  the 
Puritans  as  are  the  Baptists.  It  seems  to  me  that 
this  people  are  likely  to  maintain  pure  Christianity, 
and  to  hold  fast  to  the  form  of  sound  words, 
while  many  Congregationalists  are  rather  loose  in 
their  opinions,  and  are  trying  to  introduce  innova¬ 
tions  into  the  system  of  evangelical  doctrines. 

Consonant  with  this  testimony  are  those 
of  Drs.  Withrow  and  Kittredge,  the  two 
eminent  Presbyterian  ministers  of  Amer¬ 
ica.  Dr.  Withrow  writes : 

I  speak  with  no  fulsome  praise  when  I  say  that 
there  is  not  a  denomination  of  evangelical  Chris¬ 
tians  which  is  throughout  so  sound  theologically 
as  the  Baptist  denomination.  Sound  as  my  own 
church  is,  and  sound  as  some  others  are,  I  do  say 
that,  in  my  humble  judgment,  there  is  not  a  de¬ 
nomination  of  Christians  in  America  to-day  which 
is  so  true  to  the  simple,  plain  gospel  of  God,  as 
recorded  in  the  New  Testament,  as  the  Baptists. 

And  what  a  testimony  it  is  we  have 
from  Dr.  A.  E.  Kittridge,  of  New  York 
City,  in  his  famous  address  before  the 
Chicago  Baptist  Social  Union.  His  words 
are  manly  and  noble,  as  out  from  the 
depths  of  his  heart  he  speaks  with  enthu¬ 
siasm  : 


2  19 


STbe  Supreme  ffMesfon  of  baptists 


I  honor  the  Baptists  for  their  unflinching  loyalty 
to  sound  doctrine,  for  no  one  has  ever  had  any 
difficulty  in  knowing  just  where  this  denomina¬ 
tion  has  stood  with  regard  to  those  great,  massive 
doctrines  which  are  the  mighty  foundation  stones 
of  the  temple  of  Christianity. 

Brethren,  we  want,  we  could  have,  no 
higher  eulogy  than  this  ;  and  may  I  not 
say  it  ?  we  deserve  it.  Unworthy  we 
may  have  been  in  other  things,  but  here 
we  have  stood  as  in  a  solid  phalanx 
through  all  the  years  of  our  God-illumined 
history,  unmoved  by  philosophy  or  perse¬ 
cution,  unshaken  by  sophistry  or  scoffing. 
From  this  heaven-inspired  position  gold 
has  never  bought  us,  nor  power  coerced 
us,  nor  authority  driven  us.  We  have 
ever  felt  it  our  supreme  mission  to  exalt 
the  word  above  all  else  ;  above  reason, 
above  conscience,  above  creed,  above 
church-— the  revelation  of  God’s  nature, 
the  depository  of  God’s  thoughts,  the 
record  of  God’s  deeds,  the  sublime  expo¬ 
sition  of  God’s  matchless  wisdom  and 
illimitable  love.  We  have  said,  with  one 
of  our  most  noble  leaders  : 


220 


Gbe  Supremacy  of  tbe  Scrtpturee 


Accept  in  God’s  stead  your  own  feeble  reason, 
the  public  opinion  of  the  masses  of  men,  the  voice 
of  the  many  or  the  cry  of  the  sharp-sighted  few, 
and  your  feet  must  stumble ;  but  let  God’s  word 
reign,  and  there  is  the  brightness  of  Pentecost,  the 
dawn  of  millennium  splendors,  the  very  atmosphere 
of  that  city  and  land  where  God’s  people  walk  to 
go  out  no  more  forever  and  forever. 

And  this  position  respecting  the  Bible 
we  hold,  not  blindly  but  intelligently,  for 
the  Bible  contains  all  man  needs  to  know  in 
relation  to  God’s  will  among  us.  There  is 
no  more  danger  in  deserting  every  human 
system  and  theory,  and  trusting  to  the 
simple  word  of  God,  than  in  giving  a  well- 
built  and  well-manned  ship  full  sea-room 
in  a  storm.  There  can  be  no  harm  in  the 
fullest  liberty  and  expansion  of  mind  and 
spirit,  so  long  as  that  mind  and  spirit  are 
held  by  the  divine  truth ;  but  mark  this : 
the  sway  of  the  divine  must  be  constant, 
glorious,  omnific.  In  the  case  of  the  noted 
Church  of  England  minister,  Priestly,  this 
was  not  so,  and  you  recall  the  road  he  was 
led  to  travel.  Once  he  wrote,  “I  am  a 
Calvinist,  and  that  of  the  strictest  sort”  ; 

two  years  later  he  wrote:  “Recently  I 

221 


£be  Supreme  mission  of  baptists 


became  an  Arian,  then  a  low  Arian  ;  then 
a  Socinian,  and  now  a  low  Socinian.” 
Just  before  his  death  the  man  penned  the 
sad  words,  “I  have  gone  so  far  from  the 
Bible  that  my  creed  to-day  has  lost  all 
form  and  fixity.”  Poor  Priestly!  The 
ruins  of  his  whole  system  were  lying  all 
around  him,  because  he  had  pulled  away 
the  first  stone.  It  was  a  wise  saying  of 
the  old  Latins,  “Watch  the  beginnings  of 
things.”  No  creed,  no  church  which  does 
not  square  with  God’s  word  can  long 
stand,  but  must  sooner  or  later  sink  into 
degeneracy  and  decay.  And,  brethren  of 
the  Baptist  denomination,  hear  our  own 
McLaren  say  to  us:  “If  anything  has 
crept  into  our  faith  which  was  not  in  the 
faith  of  the  apostles,  let  us  have  courage 
to  cast  it  out,  and  cast  it  out  immediately 
and  universally.  Only  thus  can  we  honor 
our  name  and  our  sublime  historic  devo¬ 
tion  to  truth.”  Nothing  is  settled  that  is 
not  right,  nothing  permanent  that  is  not 
true. 

Now  out  of  this  basal  principle  of  Bap¬ 
tists,  which  it  is  their  supreme  mission  to 

222 


B  Step  ifartber 


maintain,  defend,  and  promulgate — abso¬ 
lute  fidelity  to  God’s  word 

,  ,  ,  ,  B  Step  ffartber 

unchanged  and  unchange¬ 
able — there  grow  three  other  important 
principles  for  which  we  have  ever  con¬ 
tended,  and  in  which  we  are  still  called 
upon  to  instruct  the  church  and  the  world 
with  unswerving  loyaly  to  truth, 

i.  The  first  of  these  principles  is  the 
accountability  of  each  soul  to  God,  and 
God  alone,  in  matters  of  Christian  faith 
and  practice.  On  the  ground  of  divine 
truth  Baptists  emphasize  individuality, 
encourage  the  developing  of  individualism, 
holding  that  every  soul  is  a  unit,  with  an 
endowment  of  personality  which  no  other 
may  violate  in  his  approach  to  him.  The 
play  of  personal  faculties,  the  movements 
of  thought,  feeling,  action,  the  exercise  of 
the  moral  sense  and  the  judicial  faculty 
by  which  we  decide  and  choose  and  finally 
act,  are  possessions  of  individuals,  and  in 
them  none  other  than  their  possessors  can 
have  a  share.  Baptists  lay  down  this 
principle  as  a  fundamental,  ineradicable 

fact  in  human  experience  and  life,  as  they 

223 


XLh c  Supreme  mission  of  baptists 


hear  and  heed  the  voice  of  inspiration, 
“  We  must  obey  God  rather  than  man.” 

Here  we  hold  a  unique  position  among 
the  religious  denominations  of  the  world. 

With  Roman  Catholicism  it 
b  Tflniqiic  •  the  church,  not  the  indi- 

Iposltion  * 

vidual.  Declares  Archbishop 
Kenrick,  in  his  address  before  the  Vatican 
Council,  “  General  Councils,  in  declaring 
faith,  cannot  err.”  Puseyism  in  England 
asserts  in  “Tracts  for  the  Times,”  “  Pri¬ 
vate  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  must 
yield  to  the  sense  of  the  church  catho¬ 
lic.”  Even  Dr.  Forbes,  in  his  inaugural 
as  Dean  of  the  General  Theological  Sem¬ 
inary  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  the 
United  States,  speaks  thus  to  his  young 
students:  “You  must  no  longer  think 
your  own  thoughts  nor  form  your  own 
plans,  but  learn  what  the  church  teaches, 
and  obey  what  the  church  commands.” 
Over  against  all  this  Baptists  stand  and 
say  : 


No  priest,  prelate,  or  prince,  no  community  of 
men,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  may  rightly 
claim  authority  to  legislate  in  religious  matters,  to 

224 


B  TUnique  position 


prescribe  articles  of  faith,  to  ordain  or  change  rites 
or  ceremonies,  or  in  any  way  to  exercise  lordship 
over  the  human  conscience.  The  one  great  Law¬ 
giver  is  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  and  to  him  and 
him  alone  man  owes  allegiance. 

It  is  well  that  there  is  one  influential 
body  of  Christians  that  stands  up  and  out 
in  defense  of  this  all  important  truth. 

Holding  these  views  Baptists  have  al¬ 
ways  been  firm  advocates  of  freedom  of 
conscience  and  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State.  Ages  ago  our  Master  said  : 
“  Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Caesar’s,  and  to  God  the  things  that  are 
God’s”;  keep  the  two  distinct — the  one 
the  kingdom  of  man,  the  other  the  king¬ 
dom  of  Jehovah.  And  all  candid  histo¬ 
rians  agree  with  John  Locke  when  he 
writes,  “The  Baptists  from  the  beginning 
were  the  friends  and  advocates  of  abso¬ 
lute  liberty,  just  and  true  liberty,  equal 
and  impartial  liberty,”  and  with  Bancroft 
when  he  declares,  “  Freedom  of  con¬ 
science,  unlimited  freedom  of  mind,  was 
from  the  first  a  trophy  of  Baptists.”  The 

first  modern  treatise  written  on  the  sub- 
p  225 


ftbe  Supreme  flThssion  of  Baptists 


ject  of  religious  liberty  was  by  Leonard 
Busher,  a  Baptist,  in  1614,  entitled  “  Re¬ 
ligious  Peace ;  or,  A  Plea  for  Liberty  of 
Conscience.”  Among  its  words  are 
these  :  “  It  may  be  lawful  for  every  per¬ 
son,  whether  Jew  or  Turk,  pagan  or 
papist,  to  unite,  dispute,  confer,  and  rea¬ 
son,  print  and  publish  any  matter  touch¬ 
ing  any  religion,  either  for  or  against 
whomsoever  !  ”  Noble,  brave  words 
these  for  the  opening  years  of  the  seven¬ 
teenth  century  !  The  Baptist  Confession 
of  Faith  of  1611  declares:  “We  believe 
that  the  magistrate  is  not  to  meddle  with 
religion  or  matters  of  conscience,  nor 
compel  men  to  this  or  that  form  of  re¬ 
ligion,  because  Christ  is  the  King  and 
Lawgiver  of  the  church  and  of  the  con¬ 
science.”  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that 
one  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  England 
addressed  James  L,  then  on  the  throne, 
with  these  words,  “  Earthly  authority  be¬ 
longs  to  earthly  things,  but  spiritual  au¬ 
thority  belongs  to  that  spiritual  kingdom 
which  is  from  heaven.”  It  is  Milton,  a 

quasi-Baptist,  that  sings  : 

226 


B  TUntque  position 


Dare  ye  for  this  adjure  the  civil  sword 
To  force  our  consciences  which  Christ  set  free, 
And  ride  as  with  a  classic  hierarchy  ? 

Help  us  to  save  free  conscience  from  the  paw 
Of  hireling  wolves  whose  gospel  is  their  maw. 

Robert  Southey  describes  Roger  Wil¬ 
liams,  the  Baptist,  as  “the  man  that  be¬ 
gan  the  first  civil  government  that  gives 
equal  liberty  of  conscience  ”  ;  and  Judge 

Story  describes  the  “  Providence  Planta- 

• 

tions,”  now  the  State  of  Rhode  Island, 
which  was  founded  by  Roger  Williams,  as 
“  the  first  Commonwealth  in  the  history  of 
jurisprudence  to  fully  recognize  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  religious  liberty.”  In  vain  does 
one  look  in  all  Baptist  history  for  such 
documents  as  the  1580  National  Covenant 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  or  the  1578 
Book  of  Discipline,  each  of  which  projects 
the  teaching  that  the  civil  power  may  con¬ 
trol  the  church.  To  our  immortal  glory, 
four  things  may  be  and  have  been  said  of 
us  :  (1)  That  we  have  never  sought  to 
force  men  by  legal  enactment  to  embrace 
our  views  ;  (2)  that  we  have  never  ad¬ 
vocated  union  of  Church  and  State  ;  (3) 

227 


Gbe  Supreme  emission  of  Baptiste 


that  we  have  never  used  persecution  or 
opposition  of  any  kind  ;  (4)  that  we  have 
utterly  renounced  all  compulsion  through 
sword  and  stake,  gibbet  and  rack.  We 
hold  to-day,  we  have  ever  held,  and  we 
shall  always  hold,  on  biblical  ground,  to 
the  personal  accountability  of  every  human 
soul  to  God  and  God  alone,  as  Sovereign 
and  Saviour. 

2.  Another  teaching  which  we  have 
believed  it  our  mission  to  propagate  as 
those  loyal  to  the  Scriptures, 

^ tbe^pwt  ^  v*z->  Regeneration  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  an  antecedent 
condition  of  church-membership.  We  hold 
that  “  a  visible  church  of  Christ  is  a  con¬ 
gregation  of  baptized  believers,  voluntarily 
associated  by  covenant  in  the  faith  and 
fellowship  of  the  gospel,  observing  the 
ordinances  as  once  for  all  delivered  to  the 
saints,  rendering  obedience  to  the  laws  of 
Christ,  and  spreading  the  gospel  through¬ 
out  the  whole  world — a  voluntary,  inde¬ 
pendent  association  of  redeemed,  obedient 
believers,  united  for  spiritual  ends  and  in 

the  use  of  spiritual  means. ” 

228 


©bebience  to  tbc  Cburcb's  TKeab 


For  us,  to  use  the  figure  of  the  sainted 
William  R.  Williams  : 

Citizenship  in  Christ’s  kingdom  begins  with 
the  new  birth,  faith  in  Christ  the  very  first  out- 
gush  of  the  new-found  spiritual  life ;  true  religion 
is  never  a  matter  of  heritage ;  God’s  progeny  are 
never  saved  by  virtue  of  blood.  Hence,  Baptists 
receive  none,  baptize  none,  who  are  not  professing, 
confessing,  and  as  far  as  we  can  see,  possessing 
believers  in  Jesus  Christ  as  a  personal  Saviour. 
We  deny  the  two  assumptions  of  the  Roman  Cath¬ 
olic  Church  in  the  third  century  when  they  intro¬ 
duced  infant  baptism,  viz.,  that  salvation  depends 
upon  baptism  and  that  the  church,  as  Christ’s  vice¬ 
gerent,  can  add  to  Christ’s  commands.  Here  as  else¬ 
where  we  say,  “  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony.” 

3.  A  third  truth  growing  out  of  our 
fundamental  principle  :  The  new  life  of  the 
believer  is  one  of  unqualified  obedience  to 
the  great  Head  of  the  church. 

(1)  In  the  matter  of  church  ordinances. 
Of  these  there  are  two,  and  only  two,  as 
originally  instituted  in  the 
Christian  church,  baptism  %£%%%£' 
and  the  Lord’s  Supper — or¬ 
dinances  equally  important  and  equally 

binding — neither  of  them  intrinsically  ef- 

229 


Zhc  Supreme  fiHtsston  of  Baptiste 


ficacious,  each  of  them  simply  symbolic. 
The  former,  which  is  the  immersion  of 
the  believer  in  water  into  the  name  of  the 
Triune  God,  symbolizes  the  great  cardinal 
truth  of  the  death,  burial,  and  resurrection 
of  the  Son  of  God,  and  is  typical  also  of 
the  believer’s  death  to  sin  and  his  resur¬ 
rection  into  newness  of  life  ;  the  latter, 
which  is  reverential  partaking  of  bread 
and  wine,  sets  forth  the  substitutionary 
and  sacrificial  character  of  Christ’s  death, 
and  is  a  solemn,  sacred  memorial  of  his 
redemptive  work  for  man.  And  in  respect 
to  these  two  rites,  we  hold  that  neither 
may  be  changed  one  iota,  and  that  one 
proof  of  the  truly  regenerate  life  is  the 
acceptance  of  these  ordinances  in  form 
and  order  just  as  Christ  instituted  them. 

I  am  well  aware  that  as  a  people  we 
are  sometimes  charged  with  making  too 
much  of  baptism,  exaggerating  both  its 
place  and  its  importance  ;  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  however,  we  assign  no  more  and  no 
less  importance  to  it  than  Christ  assigns. 
It  has  been  left  to  a  Unitarian  minister  of 
Brooklyn,  Dr.  J.  W.  Chadwick,  to  make 

23° 


©beblence  to  tbe  Gburcb's  THeab 


the  truest  representation  of  our  position  I 
have  ever  met  beyond  our  own  limits. 
Says  he  : 

It  is  one  of  the  absurdest  misconceptions  of  re¬ 
ligious  people  that  Baptists  have  magnified  the 
sacrament  of  baptism.  They  are  the  people  who 
have  minimized  baptism  as  a  sacrament.  What 
they  have  magnified  is  the  free  act  of  the  soul, 
giving  itself  to  God.  With  them  baptism  is  no 
sacrament  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term.  It  is 
simply  a  symbolic  act  of  a  free  soul ;  the  sacra¬ 
ment,  the  sacred  thing,  is  the  deliberate  choice 
which  baptism  implies. 

Nothing  could  be  truer  than  this.  To 
the  words  of  Dr.  Chadwick  we  add  : 

For  us  baptism  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
symbol  of  the  new  birth,  a  profession  of  faith  in 
Christ  as  Saviour,  the  putting  on,  by  the  new 
soldier,  of  a  significant  uniform .  Where  there  is  the 
consciousness  of  salvation,  baptism  proclaims  it ; 
where  there  is  no  salvation,  baptism  is  nothing.  In 
itself  it  effects  nothing,  means  nothing.  It  is  simply 
a  symbolical  representation  of  our  faith  in  a  risen 
Saviour  and  our  consciousness  of  redemption 
through  him. 

We  put  baptism  where  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament  puts  it,  and  declare  that  no  bishop 

231 


Cbe  Supreme  mission  ot  baptists 


nor  pope,  no  council  nor  convention,  no 
church  nor  convocation,  has  power  to 
change  its  original  form  or  subjects  or  its 
divine  significance. 

Respecting  baptism  our  denomination 
on  Bible  grounds  holds  and  proclaims 


intelligently  and  with  un¬ 
wavering  fidelity,  four  great 
facts:  (i)  It  is  a  divinely 


Jfour  Great 
Jfacts 


appointed  duty  as  revealed  by  God’s  posi¬ 
tive  precept  and  biblical  Christian  exam¬ 
ple  ;  (2)  it  is  immersion,  as  shown  by  the 
original  meaning  of  the  word  in  the  New 
T estament,  by  the  attending  circumstances 
of  the  act  as  recorded  in  the  Scripture,  by 
the  most  learned  lexicographers  of  the 
Greek  language,  by  the  admissions  of  the 
most  eminent  ecclesiastical  writers,  ancient 
and  modern,  and  by  the  universal  and  con¬ 
stant  practice  of  the  Christian  church  ; 
(3)  it  is  the  immersion  of  a  believer  in 
Jesus  Christ,  as  declared  by  the  com¬ 
mands  and  precepts  of  Scripture  and  the 
highest  Pedobaptist  authority  ;  (4)  it  is  pre¬ 
requisite  to  participation  in  the  Lord’s 
Supper  according  to  Christ’s  commission, 


232 


©bebience  in  %itc 


the  practice  of  the  apostolic  churches  and 
the  testimony  of  unbiased  authors  in  other 
communions  than  our  own. 

If  the  speaker  may  be  pardoned  a  per¬ 
sonal  reference,  he  would  say  just  here 
that  not  a  month  ago,  at  the  close  of  a 
sermon  by  himself,  on  “What  Baptists 
Stand  For,”  one  of  the  leading  Presby¬ 
terian  ministers  of  America,  who  heard 
the  sermon,  uttered  these  exact  words  : 
“The  position  of  Baptists  on  the  com¬ 
munion  question  is  impregnable,  their  ar¬ 
gument  in  favor  of  immersion  unanswer¬ 
able.”  We  lay  down  this  syllogism  as 
correct  in  its  principles  and  uncontroverti¬ 
ble  in  its  conclusion  :  Baptism  is  prereq¬ 
uisite  to  communion  at  the  Lord’s  Supper  ; 
immersion  is  essential  to  baptism  ;  there¬ 
fore  immersion  is  prerequisite  to  com¬ 
munion  at  the  Lord’s  Supper. 

More  than  this.  Baptists  joyfully  insist 
upon,  emphasize,  and  seek 
to  illustrate  day  by  day,  ®bc^”ecctn 
obedience  to  the  great  Head 
of  the  church  in  life  as  well  as  in  ordi¬ 
nances.  We  would  obey  our  Lord  in  all 

233 


flbe  Supreme  flflission  of  baptists 


things  and  at  all  times,  listening  ever  to  his 
voice  and  heeding  ever  his  instruction.  It 
is  this  noble  spirit,  I  believe,  that  has  given 
Baptists  so  proud  and  notable  a  place  in  the 
plan  of  the  world’s  evangelization  during 
the  past  one  hundred  years.  It  is  one  of 
the  glories  of  our  beloved  denomination 
that  it  has  here  set  an  example  to  the 
whole  Christian  world  in  hearkening  to 
the  last  commission  of  the  risen  Christ  to 
go  spread  his  kingdom  among  the  nations 
of  earth.  It  was  the  Baptists  that  formed 
in  Kettering,  England,  in  1792,  the  first 
foreign  missionary  society  of  modern 
times.  It  was  the  Baptist,  Carey,  who,  a 
century  ago,  stirred  all  England  in  the 
matter  of  foreign  missions.  It  was  the 
Baptist,  Hughes,  who  became  the  moving 
spirit  in  the  establishment  of  the  first  great 
Bible  society  for  sending  the  Scriptures  to 
the  nations.  It  was  the  Baptists  who  first 
translated  the  Scriptures  into  heathen  lan¬ 
guages.  It  was  the  Baptists  who  planted 
the  first  Christian  churches  in  India, 
Burma,  and  China.  It  is  Baptists  whose 
marvelous  growth  in  America  is  one  of  the 

234 


©bebtence  In  Xtfe 


wonders  of  our  age.1  And  whence  their 
inspiration  in  these  heroic  endeavors  ? 
Our  people  have  believed  God’s  word  and 
have  sought  to  do  God’s  will,  and  this  is 
from  that  word  and  will:  “Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.” 

More  perhaps  is  not  necessary  here  to 
say.  The  hope  of  Baptists  in  the  future, 
as  the  glory  of  Baptists  in  the  past,  is  in 
absolute,  unflinching  loyalty  to  Christian 
truth  as  revealed  in  the  word  of  God  ;  not 
in  numerical  strength,  nor  in  educational 
institutions,  nor  in  ecclesiastical  appoint¬ 
ments,  nor  in  scholarly  attainments,  nor  in 
social  culture,  important  and  desirable  as 
each  of  these  may  be  ;  but  in  fidelity  to 
the  unchangeable  oracles  of  the  Most 
High,  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints. 
Oh !  brethren  in  Christ  and  in  church- 
fellowship,  if  there  is  one  prayer  that  you 
and  I  should  offer  more  fervently  and  con¬ 
stantly  than  another  day  by  day,  in  this 

1  In  1784,  1  Baptist  here  to  every  94  of  our  population  ;  in 
1812,  1  to  every  42  ;  in  1840,  1  to  every  30  ;  in  1860,  1  to  every 
23  ;  in  1890,  i  to  every  22.  with  a  Baptist  constituency  of  some 
12,000,000  persons. 


235 


Gbe  Supreme  flQteston  ot  baptists 


present  dangerous  period  of  theological 
agitation  and  even  revolution,  that  prayer 
is  that  our  own  beloved  denomination,  so 
honored  and  blessed  in  years  gone  by, 
shall,  with  all  the  Christian  world,  be  true 
always  and  true  everywhere  to  the  infal¬ 
lible  word  of  the  Eternal  God,  as  the  sole 
and  supreme  authority  in  all  matters  of 
Christian  faith  and  practice.  Our  princi¬ 
ples  are  vital  ;  let  us  make  them  vigorous, 
and  in  God’s  good  time  we  shall  behold 
them  victorious. 

Oh  !  who  would  not  brave  champion  be 
In  this,  the  lordlier  chivalry, 

For  there  are  hearts  that  ache  to  see 
The  day  dawn  of  our  victory. 

Fight,  brothers,  fight  with  heart  and  brain, 
We’ll  win  the  golden  day  again  ; 

And  love’s  millennium  morn  shall  rise 
O’er  happy  hearts  and  radiant  eyes  ; 

I  will,  you  will,  brave  champion  be 
In  this,  the  lordlier  chivalry. 


236 


MARTIN  LUTHER 


c Address  in  celebration  of  the  four  hundred  and 
tenth  ^Anniversary  of  Luther's  birthday ,  de¬ 
livered  in  the  First  Lutheran  Church 
Denver ,  [November,  1893 


VII 


ttutber’s  position 


ONE  of  the  most  suggestive  and  attrac¬ 
tive  pictures  among  all  European 
works  of  art  is  Kaulbach’s 
Era  of  the  Reformation.  It 
hangs  to-day  in  the  noted  museum  at 
Berlin,  invested  with  interest  to  every 
serious,  thoughtful  soul.  Gazing  upon  it, 
one  is  impressed  as  never  before,  per¬ 
haps,  with  the  many  mighty  heroes  who 
trod  up  and  down  the  continent  of  Europe 
in  the  sixteenth  century  of  our  Christian 
era.  Science  is  here  represented  by  Kep¬ 
ler  and  Copernicus ;  royalty,  by  Queen 
Elizabeth ;  art,  by  Albert  Diirer ;  litera¬ 
ture,  by  Shakespeare ;  scholarship,  by 
Reuchlin  and  Erasmus  ;  statesmanship  and 
warriorship,  by  Gustavus  Adolphus ;  and 
religion  by  Martin  Luther.  And  the  last- 
named  hero  occupies  the  central  and  most 
prominent  position  in  this  splendid  galaxy 
of  artists  and  astronomers,  poets  and 

239 


fiQarttn  3Lutber 


philosphers,  scholars  and  scientists,  rulers 
and  warriors.  To  the  artist  the  monk, 
with  open  Bible  in  hand  and  heart,  is  the 
master  spirit  of  that  noted  period. 

Nor  is  Kaulbach  alone  in  attributing  to 
Luther  the  first  and  most  exalted  place 
among  his  compeers  and  companions.  We 
turn  to  the  writings  of  Lessing,  one  of 
Germany’s  most  eminent  poets,  and  a 
man  certainly  not  biased  in  the  Reformer’s 
favor,  and  find  him  saying  :  “  Luther  is 
one  of  the  greatest  men  the  world  has 
ever  known.  The  traits  in  him  which 
prove  him  to  have  been  only  a  human 
being  after  all,  are  as  dear  to  me  as  the 
most  overpowering  of  his  perfections.” 
“  Luther,”  says  Ernst  Arndt,  Germany’s 
patriotic  singer,  “was  the  highest  de¬ 
veloped  flower  of  the  spiritual  life  of  his 
time,  produced  in  word  and  song.  He  it 
was  that  imprinted  in  the  German  lan¬ 
guage  the  stamp  of  majesty.”  In  his 
famous  “  Letters  in  Furtherance  of  Hu¬ 
manity,”  that  sweet-souled  poet-philoso¬ 
pher,  Herder,  in  writing  of  Luther  as  a 

patriot  and  a  man,  declares  : 

240 


Mis  {position 


As  a  teacher  of  the  German  nation,  as  one  of 
the  reformers  of  cultured  Europe,  he  has  been  ap¬ 
preciated  long  ages  ago.  With  the  strength  of 
Hercules  he  attacked  the  religious  despotism  which 
neutralized  and  undermined  all  free  and  healthy 
thought.  The  power  of  his  language  and  his 
simple  mind  became  united  with  the  sciences  he 
had  helped  to  strengthen  and  revive. 

Nor  is  that  noted  Shakespearean  trans¬ 
lator,  Friedrich  von  Schlegel,  less  enthusi¬ 
astic  in  his  praise  when,  in  his  “Philoso¬ 
phy  of  Religion,”  he  asserts  that  Luther 
marks  an  epoch,  not  only  in  the  history 
of  the  German  language,  but  also  in  the 
development  of  European  science  and  of 
spiritual  culture  in  general. 

Open  “The  Salon  ”  of  that  master  sat¬ 
irist  and  poet,  Heinrich  Heine,  and  find 
on  its  pages  this  unequivocal  testimony  : 
“  Luther  is  not  only  the  greatest,  but  also 
the  most  German,  man  in  our  history. 
All  hail  to  Luther  !  Eternal  praise  to  the 
dear  man  to  whom  we  owe  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  our  noblest  treasures,  and  on  whose 
gifts  we  are  feasting  to  this  very  day  ! 
Luther’s  ‘  Stronghold  Sure  ’  was  ‘  The  Mar¬ 
seillaise’  of  the  Reformation.”  And  side 
Q  241 


fniartin  Xutber 


by  side  with  all  these  noted  authors  stands 
the  German  historian,  Gustav  Freytag, 
testifying  thus  in  his  “  Century  of  the  Ref¬ 
ormation  ”:  “All  Confessions  have  rea¬ 
son  to  trace  back  to  Luther  all  that  which 
to-day  is  making  their  faith  soul-inspiring 
and  a  blessing  for  their  life  in  this  world. 
The  heretic  of  Wittenberg  has  been  a  Re¬ 
former  for  the  German  Catholics  just  as 
well  as  for  the  Protestants.”  How  each 
of  these  intelligent  estimates  agrees  with 
that  of  Carlyle,  who,  in  his  London  lec¬ 
tures  on  literature,  delivered  in  1838,  but 
now  published  for  the  first  time,  describes 
our  hero  as  “the  image  of  a  large,  sub¬ 
stantial,  deep  man  that  stands  upon  truth, 
justice,  fairness  ;  that  fears  nothing  ;  con¬ 
siders  the  right,  calculates  on  nothing  else, 
and  adheres  to  it  deliberately  and  calmly, 
through  good  report  and  bad.” 

Surely  the  life,  character,  times,  and 
work  of  such  a  man  as  this  Reformer — in 
achievement  above  Wycliffe  and  Tyndale, 
Huss  and  Melancthon,  Knox  and  Calvin, 
yea,  all  his  distinguished  contemporaries, 

or  even  predecessors  in  moral  revolution, 

242 


:©trtb  anb  Mlstor^ 


Jesus  Christ  himself  excepted — presents 
a  study  of  fascinating  interest.  To  study 
Germany  with  this  great  personage  elimi¬ 
nated,  is  like  studying  Greek  without 
Leonidas  and  Themistocles,  Rome  without 
Cassar  and  Seneca,  France  without  St. 
Louis,  England  without  Alfred,  Scotland 
without  Bruce,  Holland  without  William 
the  Silent,  Sweden  without  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  Switzerland  without  Arnold 
Winkelried,  and  America  without  George 
Washington. 

Martin  Luther  was  born  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord,  1483,  and  on  St.  Martin's  Day, 
November  10,  hence  his 
name  Martin.  His  birth- 
place  was  Eisleben,  Ger¬ 
many — no  insignificant  fact,  as  D’Au- 
bigne  points  out.  “As  Judea,  the  birth¬ 
place  of  our  religion,  lay  in  the  center  of 
the  ancient  world,  so  Germany  lay  in  the 
midst  of  Christian  nations.  She  looked 
upon  the  Netherlands,  England,  France, 
Switzerland,  Italy,  Hungary,  Bohemia, 
Poland,  and  Denmark.  It  was  fit  that  the 
principle  of  life  should  develop  itself  in 

243 


fiQartin  3Lutber 


the  heart  of  Europe,  that  its  pulses  might 
circulate  through  all  the  arteries  of  the 
body  the  generous  blood  desired  to  re¬ 
vivify  its  members. ” 

Time  forbids,  nor  is  it  necessary  in  this 
century  of  enlightenment  and  general 
intelligence,  that  we  recount  in  detail 
Luther’s  history  :  his  birth  in  the  cottage 
of  a  poor  miner,  as  was  Melancthon’s  in 
an  armorer’s  workshop  and  Zwingli’s  in  a 
shepherd’s  hut ;  his  early  struggles  with 
poverty  ;  his  days  of  severity  at  school  ; 
his  painful  privations  at  Eisenach,  where 
he  was  obliged  to  sing  by  day  and  by 
night  to  get  bread  to  keep  him  alive  ;  his 
marvelous  advancement  in  literature  and 
art  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  ;  his  dis¬ 
covery  of  a  Bible  one  day  in  the  Erfurth 
Library,  the  first  Bible  in  its  entirety  that 
he  had  ever  seen ;  his  entrance  into  a 
convent,  to  become,  not  a  great  genius, 
but  a  great  Bible  scholar,  to  find  the  ali¬ 
ment  of  true  and  God-honoring  piety  ; 
his  securing,  in  1509,  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity ;  his  visit,  in  1510,  to  Rome  in 

the  interest  of  the  church,  and  his  almost 

244 


JBtrtb  anD  Mistor^ 

miraculous  conversion  when  ascending 
the  noted  “Santa  Scala  ”  ;  his  almost 
daily  discourses  in  explanation  and  eluci¬ 
dation  of  the  Bible,  especially  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans ;  his  first  vigorous  grasp 
on  the  central  truth  of  this  Epistle,  as 
God’s  Spirit  opens  to  his  mind  the  glorious 
revelation  of  justification  without  merits 
and  salvation  without  works ;  and  his 
thorough,  heaven-conferred  equipment  for 
his  grand,  heroic  part  in  connection  with 
one  of  the  most  momentous  historical 
movements  that  ever  agitated  our  earth — 
a  movement  which  marks  the  emancipa¬ 
tion  of  the  human  mind  and  the  rise  of 
free  institutions;  a  movement  which  freed 
the  world  from  galling  shackles,  turned 
the  stream  of  centuries  into  fresh  and 
noble  channels,  and  proclaimed  a  new 
and  glorious  era  to  the  priest-ridden 
church  of  God  and  the  suffering  race  of 
man.  Not  that  Martin  Luther  created 
this  movement — for  harbingers  of  the  Ref¬ 
ormation  had  already  appeared  in  such 
colossal  personages  as  Savonarola  in  Italy, 
Erasmus  in  Holland,  Wycliffe  in  England, 

245 


fnlartin  Xutber 


and  Huss  and  Jerome  in  Bohemia — but 
that  this  consecrated  German  monk  gave 
the  Reformation  a  personal,  heroic,  con¬ 
stantly  accelerating  impetus,  whose  influ¬ 
ence  is  felt  to-day  in  every  land  whose 
heritage  is  an  open  Bible  and  religious 
liberty. 

And  what  times  those  were,  that  at¬ 
tracted  Luther’s  attention  and  called  out 
his  consecrated  energies  as 
a  mighty  son  of  thunder ! 

You  students  of  history  know 
something  of  that  period.  The  history  of 
so-called  religion  contains  no  more  dis¬ 
graceful  page.  Eloquently  and  sadly  does 
Dr.  John  Lord,  in  his  “  Beacon  Lights,” 
describe  the  condition  of  things,  when 
picturesquely  he  exclaims  : 


Xutbcr's 

Uimcs 


How  flagrant  those  evils ! — who  can  deny 
them? — the  papal  despotism,  and  the  frauds  on 
which  it  was  based  ;  monastic  corruptions ;  pen¬ 
ance  and  indulgences  for  sin,  and  the  sale  of  them, 
more  harmful  still ;  the  secular  character  of  the 
clergy ;  the  pomp,  wealth,  and  arrogance  of 
bishops ;  auricular  confession ;  celibacy  of  the 
clergy,  their  idle  and  dissolute  life,  their  ignorance 
and  superstition ;  the  worship  of  the  images  of 

246 


Xutber's  {Times 


saints,  and  the  masses  for  the  dead  ;  the  gorgeous 
ritualism  of  the  mass  ;  the  substitution  of  legends 
for  the  Scriptures,  which  were  not  translated  nor 
read  by  the  people ;  pilgrimages,  processions,  idle 
pomp  and  the  multiplication  of  holy  days ;  above 
all,  the  . grinding  spiritual  despotism  exercised  by 
priests,  with  their  inquisitions  and  excommunica¬ 
tions  all  centering  in  the  terrible  usurpation  of  the 
pope,  keeping  the  human  mind  in  bondage  and 
suppressing  all  intellectual  independence  —  these 
evils  prevailed  everywhere. 

Had  there  been  nothing  at  this  period  but 
the  infamous  system  of  “  indulgences,” 
that  were  black  and  dire  enough.  Its  oc¬ 
casion  and  history  are  generally  familiar. 
Pope  Leo  X.  is  bankrupt ;  his  profligacy 
has  brought  him  to  want.  St.  Peter’s 
Church — “the  crowning  glory  of  papal 
magnificence  ” — must  be  finished.  To 
aid  in  this,  Leo  brings  to  the  front  once 
again  a  base  custom  which  men  had 
dreamed  was  buried,  never  to  see  a  resur¬ 
rection,  beneath  the  debris  of  a  by-gone 
age  of  darkness — the  custom  of  selling  in¬ 
dulgences  for  sin.  In  every  direction 
agents  are  sent  out  to  promote  the  vile 

scheme.  Chief  among  these  is  a  Domin- 

247 


ffllartin  Xutber 


ican  monk,  known  to  history  as  Tetzel. 
In  his  vulgarity  and  insincerity  he  appears 
in  Saxony,  with  these  shameful  and  shame¬ 
less  claims  born  out  of  the  degradation  of 
that  degenerate  day : 

Draw  near,  and  I  will  give  you  letters  duly 
sealed,  by  which  even  the  sins  you  shall  hereafter 
desire  to  commit  shall  be  forgiven  you.  I  would 
not  exchange  my  privileges  for  those  of  St.  Peter 
in  heaven,  for  I  have  saved  more  souls  by  my 
indulgences  than  he  by  his  sermons.  There  is 
no  sin  so  great  that  the  indulgence  cannot  remit; 
and  even  if  any  should,  which  is  impossible — 
ravish  the  holy  mother  of  God — let  him  only  pay 
largely,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  The  very 
moment  the  money  goes  into  the  pope’s  box,  that 
moment  even  the  condemned  soul  of  the  sinner 
flies  to  heaven. 

This  quotation,  reported  in  Millot’s  his¬ 
tory,  is  corroborated  by  Von  Ranke’s 
statement  that  “the  most  nefarious  sin 
of  the  day  was  the  sale  of  indulgences  for 
the  commission  of  sin.  Italian  religion 
had  become  the  art  of  plundering  the 
people.” 

Universally  and  pathetically  the  appeal 

is  heard  for  some  hand,  human  or  divine — 

248 


Xutber’s  flQanful  BttituDe 


nay,  for  two  hands,  the  human  and  the 
divine,  closely  joined  in  glad  successful 
co-operation — to  be  raised  for  the  rescue 
of  a  church  covered  all  over  with  ritual 
and  tainted  all  through  with  tradition.  It 
is  time  that  “  that  great  organization 
which  had  painted  sinless  Madonnas  and 
had  shown  the  immaculate  faces  of  Mother 
and  Son  to  the  barbarians  from  the  north, 
and  carried  these  pure  ideals  upon  a 
march  of  thirteen  hundred  years,  should 
begin  to  demand  that  the  morality  seen 
on  canvas  begin  to  appear  in  human  life.” 
The  world,  national  and  Christian,  must 
relapse  into  barbarism  unless  something 
be  done  to  enlighten  mind,  purify  heart, 
and  transform  life. 

And  the  help  soon  comes.  God  is  ever 
true  to  his  word,  and  it  is  his  word  that  de¬ 
clares,  respecting  the  church,  Xutbcr>s 

that  “the  gates  of  Hades  /manful 

shall  not  prevail  against  it”  Bttitu&e 
— his  own  body  born  in  heaven,  its  di¬ 
vine  imprimatur  stamped  with  Geth- 
semane’s  groans  and  sealed  with  Cal¬ 
vary’s  blood.  On  the  arena  appears 

249 


ffllartin  ILutber 


Luther.  As  gentle  as  a  lamb  in  assisting 
right,  he  is  as  bold  as  a  lion  in  resisting 
wrong.  He  is  just  the  man  for  reforma¬ 
tory  work — the  John  the  Baptist  of  the 
sixteenth  century  “  Sprung  from  the 
people  ;  poor,  popular,  fervent ;  educated 
amid  privations  ;  religious  by  nature,  yet 
with  exuberant  animal  spirits  ;  dogmatic, 
boisterous,  intrepid,  practical,  untiring, 
generous,  learned  ;  emancipated  from  the 
terrors  of  the  Middle  Ages  ;  scorning  the 
Middle  Ages ;  progressive  in  his  spirit, 
lofty  in  his  character,  earnest  in  his  piety  ; 
believing  in  the  future  and  in  God  ;  bold, 
audacious,  with  deep  convictions  and  rapid 
intellectual  processes  ;  prompt,  decided, 
brave,  he  loved  the  storms  of  battle,  he 
impersonated  revolutionary  ideas. ”  As 
Athanasius  was  raised  up  by  God  in  the 
early  centuries  to  defend  the  divine  dignity 
of  the  Son  of  God,  so  was  Luther  raised 
up  at  this  period  to  declare  with  a  stento¬ 
rian  voice,  a  leonine  heart,  and  a  Pauline 
spirit,  the  great  truths  of  liberty  of  con¬ 
science,  of  private  judgment,  an  open 

Bible,  and  salvation  alone  through  belief 

250 


Mle  Hmmortal  Tlheeee 


in  Jesus  Christ,  man’s  divine  Sovereign 
and  Saviour. 

With  careful  thought  this  man  of  God 
prepared  his  theses — ninety-five  strong, 
unanswerable  propositions — 
against  the  crime  of  indul- 
gences,  and  with  brave  heart 
and  firm  hand,  on  October  31,  1517, 
nailed  them  to  the  Schlosskirche  at  Wit¬ 
tenberg.  In  consequence  of  the  act  an 
intense  excitement  was  produced  in  all 
directions  and  on  the  part  of  all  classes — 
now  among  abbots  and  bishops ;  now 
among  university  students  and  the  great 
masses  of  the  people.  All  Rome  espe¬ 
cially  was  stirred  from  center  to  circum¬ 
ference.  The  pope  summoned  Luther  to 
the  Eternal  City,  but,  befriended  by  Sax¬ 
ony’s  king,  he  refused  to  obey  the  call. 
A  learned  father  of  the  church  was  com¬ 
missioned  to  visit  him,  with  the  view  of 
changing  his  opinions  or  of  conquering  his 
will  ;  but  the  interview  accomplished 
naught,  save  to  strengthen  the  Reformer’s 
convictions.  The  distinguished  controver¬ 
sialist,  Dr.  Eck,  challenged  him  to  a  pub- 

251 


flflartin  Xutber 


lie  debate  ;  but  failed  to  gain  a  victory 
over  the  man  that  placed  triumphantly 
over  against  all  ecclesiastical  traditions 
and  council  decrees  the  infallible  word  of 
the  Eternal  God.  The  pope  excommuni¬ 
cated  him  ;  but  he  fearlessly  consigned  to 
flames  the  worthless  “  Bull,”  exclaiming 
as  he  flings  it  into  the  fire  :  “As  thou  (the 
pope)  hast  troubled  the  holy  one  of  the 
Lord,  may  the  eternal  fire  trouble  and 
consume  thee  !”  He  was  ordered  to  the 
diet  of  Worms,  but  all  efforts  to  make 
him  recant  had  no  effect  on  the  strong- 
hearted  Teuton,  as  he  appeared  before  the 
splendid  array  of  potentates,  national  and 
ecclesiastical,  with  the  immortal  declara¬ 
tion  :  “  On  God’s  word  I  take  my  stand  ; 
I  cannot  do  otherwise.  God  help  me  ! 
Amen.’"  As  a  fitting  characterization  of 
him,  we  repeat  the  poet’s  splendid  picture  : 

As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form, 

Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the 
storm, 

Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are 
spread, 

Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head. 

252 


Gbe  ^Battle  ot  tbe  IReformation 


The  battle  of  the  Reformation  was  now 
begun.  Luther  had  arrayed  the  two 
forces  over  against  each  ubc  mtUe 
other :  on  the  one  side  tra-  of  tbe 
dition,  the  pope,  papal  coun-  1Reformatlon 
cils  ;  on  the  other,  the  Bible,  conscience, 
private  judgment.  Especially  now  was 
the  Bible  to  have  free  course  and  to  be 
glorified.  Heretofore  it  had  been  bound 
to  chains  or  concealed  on  shelves  in  dark 
libraries  ;  now  it  was  to  go  forth,  conquer¬ 
ing  and  to  conquer,  imparting  liberty  to 
the  individual  conscience,  character  to 
law,  stability  to  national  life,  and  thus 
opening  up  vast  and  varied  fields  for  men¬ 
tal,  social,  and  moral  development. 

Hear  Luther  strike  the  keynote  to  his 
grandest  mission  in  these  words: 


What !  Keep  the  Light  of  Life  from  the  people  ; 
take  away  their  guide  to  heaven ;  keep  them  in 
ignorance  of  what  is  most  precious  and  most  ex¬ 
alted  ;  deprive  them  of  the  blessed  consolations 
that  sustain  the  soul  in  trial  and  in  death  ;  deny 
the  most  palpable  truths,  because  dignitaries  put 
on  them  a  construction  to  bolster  up  their  power ! 
What  an  abomination  !  What  treachery  to  heaven  ! 
What  perils  to  the  souls  of  men  ! 

253 


miartin  Xutbcr 


And  Luther  has  another  mission,  im¬ 
posed  of  God,  in  the  great  work  before 
him.  He  is  both  to  revolutionize  and  to 
advance  the  science  of  education  among 
his  people.  Says  Lecky,  in  his  “History 
of  Rationalism  in  Europe”  : 

There  is  scarcely  a  disposition  that  marks  the 
love  of  abstract  truth,  and  scarcely  a  rule  which 
reason  teaches  as  essential  for  its  attainment, 
that  theologians  did  not  for  centuries  stigma¬ 
tize  as  offensive  to  the  Almighty.  By  destroy¬ 
ing  every  book  that  could  generate  discussion ; 
by  diffusing  through  every  field  of  knowledge 
a  spirit  of  boundless  credulity ;  and  above  all, 
by  persecuting  with  atrocious  cruelty  those  who 
differed  from  their  opinions,  they  succeeded  for  a 
long  period  in  almost  arresting  the  action  of  the 
European  mind,  and  in  persuading  men  that  a 
critical,  impartial  spirit  was  the  worst  form  of 
vice. 

Heretofore  Latin  had  been  the  language 
of  science  and  religion.  With  Latin  the 
people  were  unfamiliar,  and  so  the  great 
body  of  them  were  in  ignorance,  cut  off 
from  the  privileges  and  advantages  of 
mental  development  and  acquisition.  The 
Reformer  of  Eisleben  preached  in  Ger- 

254 


flbe  battle  of  tbe  IReformation 


man  and  wrote  in  German.  The  effect 
was  immediate  and  glorious.  Knowledge 
was  popularized,  and  the  craving  for  it 
became  eager  and  general.  Schools 
sprang  up  and  flourished.  Books  were 
published,  circulated,  and  read  with  avid¬ 
ity.  The  printing  press  carries  far  and 
wide  the  results  of  research  in  art  and 
philosophy,  science,  and  religion. 

The  lonely  miner’s  son,  with  the  heart  of  a  lion, 
has  struck  the  blow  that  has  broken  the  shackles 
of  superstition  and  priestcraft.  Men  can  now 
study,  think,  act,  without  reference  to  the  dogmas 
of  a  corrupt  church.  A  paralyzed  literary  and 
Christian  world  is  infused  with  fresh  blood  and 
new  forces,  and  all  the  new  energies  of  its  being 
start  up  and  diffuse  themselves  into  grander  chan¬ 
nels  of  development  and  progress. 

* 

A  new  era  had  come  upon  the  world  ; 
not  created,  as  some  have  thought,  by  the 
march  of  the  Crusaders,  or  by  the  in¬ 
vention  of  the  compass,  or  by  printing, 
or  by  gunpowder,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
living  God  through  the  spirit  of  an  earnest 
man. 

And  in  the  face  of  what  determined 

255 


flQartln  Xutber 


foes,  against  what  formidable  odds,  was 
this  grand  work,  to  which  Luther  gave 
so  noble  an  impulse,  to  grow 

blessings"1'  anc*  strengthen  !  A  rich, 
voluptuous  hierarchy ;  the 
mighty  power  of  the  German  empire,  re¬ 
posing  then  in  the  Austrian  House  of 
Hapsburg ;  the  strong  hosts  of  Spain  ; 
the  hot  flames  of  the  stake  ;  the  heartless 
rack  of  the  inquisition  ;  the  red  carnage 
of  the  Thirty  Years’  War,  with  its  terrific 
destruction  of  life  and  devastation  of 
property,  all  these  things  arrayed  in 
gigantic  opposition  to  this  work  of  God  ! 
And  yet,  because  God’s  work,  how  it 
developed  and  conquered,  slowly,  surely, 
gloriously,  until  its  principles  of  light  and 
life,  of  freedom  and  progress,  are  found 
triumphant  to-day  in  Germany  and  Scan¬ 
dinavia,  Holland  and  Switzerland,  England 
and  Scotland,  and  our  own  fair  America 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  ! 

And  what  blessings  it  has  scattered  all 
along  its  pathway  of  glory  !  The  most 
noted  Jewish  rabbi  in  America  perhaps, 
writes : 


256 


Obstacles  anD  blessings 


We  can  fairly  say  that  a  comparison  of  the  in¬ 
tellectual  condition  of  countries  where  Catholicism 
holds  sway  undisputed,  with  that  of  the  territories 
reclaimed  by  Protestantism,  shows  that  without 
Luther’s  Reformation  our  modern  science  could 
not  have  spread  her  pinions.  Even  the  Catholic 
Church  has  felt  this  man’s  influence.  The  gross 
abuses  of  which  Luther  complained  ;  the  venality 
of  the  higher  dignitaries,  the  shameless  immorality 
of  the  mitred  shepherds,  are  blemishes  which  to¬ 
day  cannot  be  pointed  out  in  the  Catholics,  which 
would  not  have  been  the  case  if  the  Reformation 
had  not  been  successful. 

Weighty  words  these,  from  one  who, 
neither  a  Protestant  nor  a  Catholic,  surveys 
this  whole  matter  with  the  eye  of  a  critic 
and  a  historian.  The  Reformation  was 
far  from  a  perfect  achievement ;  but  more 
than  any  other  event  in  human  history, 
save  the  establishment  of  that  of  Chris¬ 
tianity,  of  which  it  was  a  beautiful  pro¬ 
duct,  it  has  been  instrumental  in  giving 
to  our  world  and  age  priceless  personal 
liberty,  exalted  educational  privileges, 
universal  political  equality,  and  joyous, 
absolute,  unrestricted  religious  freedom. 

When  on  that  sad  day  in  February, 

r  257 


fiilarttn  ftutber 


1546,  Martin  Luther  died,  earth  lost  one 
of  its  noblest  champions  of  the  right  of 
private  judgment  and  the 

MisSJeatb  ,  ,  ®  , 

glory  of  liberty  of  conscience 
— each  man’s  privilege  to  think  and  act 
as  he  himself  may  decide,  in  the  fear  of 
God  and  without  the  fear  of  man.  To 
the  victory  of  this  principle  the  world 
owes  its  truest  progress.  As  Isaac  Taylor 
well  puts  it : 

The  absolutely  unrestricted  development  and 
the  strict  conservatism  of  religious  differences  is  a 
principal  and  indeed,  an  indispensable  condition, 
of  social  advancement  and  of  the  progress  of  a 
people  toward  a  state  of  equipoise  without  stagna¬ 
tion.  Religious  differences  well  defined,  firmly 
maintained,  and  fully  developed,  and  in  such  a 
condition  that  they  are  not  merely  elements,  but 
are  energies  within  the  social  mass,  when  duly 
attempered,  stand,  if  not  foremost,  quite  prominent, 
among  the  forces  that  are  carrying  us  forward  to¬ 
ward  a  higher  civilization. 

We  have  time  but  for  a  remaining 
question  :  What  was  it  in  Luther — the 
man,  the  hero,  the  theologian,  which,  in 
connection  with  a  higher  power,  produced 

such  a  work  as  that  which  all  unprejudiced 

258 


Cbief  Cbaracteri6tic9 


Cbfef 

Cbaractedstics 


minds  to-day  admire  and  praise  ;  a  work 
which  has  been  celebrated  so  widely  and 
so  enthusiastically  ;  a  work  which  to-day, 
after  a  lapse  of  more  than  four  hundred 
years,  is  fondly  remembered  by  two 
hundred  millions  of  the  human  race  ? 

One  of  the  chief  elements  of  greatness 
in  our  hero  was  his  deep  sincerity  and 
earnestness  of  purpose. 

Other  men  excelled  him  in 
other  qualities,  Erasmus  in 
classic  culture,  Zwingli  in  intellectual 
acumen,  Calvin  in  organizing  capacity, 
Melancthon  in  learning  and  spiritual  life ; 
but  above  each  of  these  men  of  God 
stood  out  and  up  “the  little  monk,”  as 
George  of  Freudsburg  used  to  call  him, 
in  strong  conviction  and  unwavering  de¬ 
termination.  Mark  the  emphasis  with 
which  he  speaks  when  taking  the  oath  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity:  “I  swear  to  defend 
evangelical  truth  with  all  my  might !  ” 
and  the  man  meant  it.  He  hated  cant, 
hypocrisy,  dissimulation,  as  the  very  off¬ 
spring  of  the  devil  himself.  “  If  I  despised 
the  pope,”  he  once  said,  “  as  those  men 

259 


fillartln  Xutber 


despise  him  who  praise  him  with  their 
lips,  I  should  tremble  lest  the  earth  should 
instantly  open  and  swallow  me  alive,  like 
Korah  and  his  company. ”  He  hurled, 
with  such  tremendous  power,  thunder¬ 
bolts  at  Leo  X.  and  Henry  VIII.  because 
he  scorned  their  insincerity  and  perfidy. 
He  burned  the  papal  bull,  because  aroused 
to  a  conviction  of  no  man’s  right  over 
another’s  conscience.  He  stood  unmoved 
at  the  diet  of  Worms,  because  his  faith 
rested  on  a  Petrine  foundation  that  could 
not  be  moved.  It  has  well  been  said  that 
this  one  element  of  sincerity  and  purpose 
makes  the  great  hot  heart  of  Luther  the 
livest  thing  in  Europe  to-day. 

Another  noble  characteristic  of  the 
German  Reformer,  indeed  the  basal  stone 
of  all  his  grandest  success,  was  his 
supreme,  sublime,  surpassing  faith  in 
Almighty  God.  To  him  Jehovah  was 
always  near,  real,  tangible  by  his  hand 
of  aspiration,  visible  by  his  eye  of  faith. 
He  seemed  to  pierce  the  veil  that  separates 
the  unseen  from  the  seen.  He  lived  be¬ 
yond  the  sense  realm.  The  supernatural 

260 


Cblef  Characteristics 


with  him  was  tremendously  a  fact.  God 
was  the  inspiration  of  his  strength,  his 
courage,  his  every  achievement.  “What¬ 
ever  I  do,”  exclaimed  he  on  one  occasion, 
“will  not  be  done  by  the  prudence  of 
man,  but  by  the  counsel  of  God.  If  the 
work  be  of  God,  who  can  stop  it  ?  If  of 
man,  who  can  forward  it  ?  ” 

And  as  the  Baptist  recognized  himself 
decreasing  before  the  increasing  greatness 
of  the  Christ,  so  Luther  felt  his  nothing¬ 
ness  in  the  presence  of  the  Infinite  and 
the  Eternal.  You  recall  how,  when  on 
his  way  from  Wittenberg  to  meet  Cajetan 
in  discussion  at  Augsburg,  the  multitude 
made  the  air  ring  with  the  cry  of  adula¬ 
tion,  “Martin  Luther  forever!”  he 
turned,  and  looking  upon  them,  quietly 
exclaimed,  “  God  forever,  and  his  word  !  ” 
and  when  they  respond,  “  Courage, 
master,  and  God  will  help  you  !  ”  he,  the 
right  chord  having  been  struck  in  his  con¬ 
secrated  soul,  replied,  “Amen  and  Amen!” 
To  God,  his  Protector  and  Guide,  would 
he  have  the  glory  and  honor  universally 

ascribed.  He  used  to  sing  with  rapture  : 

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flUartin  Xutbcr 


A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God, 

A  bulwark  never  failing. 

A  third  grand  and  admirable  trait  of 
Luther  was  his  magnificent  natural  cour¬ 
age.  One  picture  of  this  may  suffice. 
It  is  when  this  mighty  iconoclast  is  sum¬ 
moned  to  appear  at  the  Diet  of  Worms, 
this  time  not  by  papal  but  kingly  power. 
Bring  the  scene  before  you.  It  has  its 
counterpart  in  Elijah  before  Baal's  proph¬ 
ets  on  the  slopes  of  Carmel.  Charles 
V.  the  emperor,  is  there  ;  and  there  also 
are  bishops,  dignitaries,  generals,  legates. 
Over  against  them  the  little  monk  ;  but 
he,  with  God,  is  the  majority.  What  is 
his  speech  ?  Terse,  pointed,  epigram¬ 
matic  :  “  Unless  you  confute  me  by  argu¬ 
ments  drawn  from  Scripture,  I  cannot  and 
will  not  recant  anything.  Here  I  stand  ; 
I  cannot  otherwise.  God  help  me! 
Amen.”  What  a  scene  !  What  a  man  ! 
It  is  John  before  Herod,  Knox  before 
Mary,  Chrysostom  before  Eudoxia.  He 
fears  no  ecclesiastical  authority,  no  kingly 
power,  no  papal  bull,  no  infuriated  mob. 

Like  his  noble  predecessor  in  theology, 

262 


Chief  Characteristics 


he  can  face  the  whole  world,  and  with 
unshaken  courage  exclaim,  “None  of 
these  things  move  me.”  Well  was  it  for 
Luther  that  he  had  in  him  such  stuff  as 
made  him  always  and  everywhere  a 
mighty  man  of  valor.  His  whole  life, 
after  his  conversion,  was  a  battle — a 
heroic  struggle.  And  inevitably  was  this 
so. 

He  who  ascends  the  mountain  tops  shall  find 
The  loftiest  peaks  most  wrapped  in  clouds  and 
storms, 

Though  high  above  the  sun  of  glory  shines, 

And  far  beneath  the  earth  and  ocean  spread, 
Round  him  are  icy  rocks,  and  loudly  blow 
Contending  tempests  on  his  naked  head 

Finally,  Martin  Luther  was  a  man  of 
clear,  unhesitating  acceptance,  as  far  as 
he  had  light,  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  as 
the  God-given  guide  of  Christian  faith 
and  practice.  The  Bible  he  meant  to 
make  his  code  and  creed,  not  human  tra¬ 
dition  nor  council  decrees  nor  papal 
authority,  but  the  infallible  word  of  the 
infallible  God.  The  memorable  words  of 

Chillingworth  he  would  make  the  rallying 

263 


flllattfn  Xutfter 


cry  of  the  Reformation  :  “  The  Bible  !  the 
Bible  alone  !  the  religion  of  Protestants  !  ” 
With  firm,  abiding  faith  in  its  all-sufficiency, 
when  faithfully  received  and  interpreted, 
he  could  calmly  say  to  the  knight  who 
offered  him  his  arms  to  protect  him  :  “  By 
the  word  the  world  was  conquered  ;  by 
the  word  the  church  has  been  saved  ;  and 
by  the  word  both  world  and  church  may 
gain  their  highest  triumphs.”  And  when 
struggling  along  for  twelve  studious  years 
in  preparing  for  his  nation  that  remark¬ 
able  translation  of  the  Bible,  in  which  now 
for  three  hundred  years  the  Germans 
have  read  God’s  word,  how  earnestly, 
enthusiastically,  he  reiterates  such  senti¬ 
ments  as  these  : 

The  Scriptures  are  the  legacy  of  the  early 
church  to  universal  humanity ;  the  equal  and 
treasured  inheritance  of  all  nations  and  tribes  and 
kindreds  on  the  face  of  the  earth  !  It  was  in¬ 
tended  that  they  should  be  diffused,  and  that 
every  one  should  read  and  interpret  them  for  him¬ 
self  ;  for  each  has  a  soul  to  save,  and  he  does  not 
trust  such  a  precious  thing  as  the  soul  to  the  keep¬ 
ing  of  the  priests.  No,  I  say,  let  the  Scriptures 
be  put  into  the  hands  of  every  one ;  let  every  one 


Chief  Characteristics 


interpret  it  for  himself,  according  to  the  light  he 
has  ;  let  spiritual  liberty  be  revived  as  in  apos¬ 
tolic  days.  Then  only  will  the  people  be  emanci¬ 
pated  from  the  Middle  Ages,  arise  in  their  power 
and  majesty,  obey  the  voice  of  enlightened  con¬ 
science,  be  true  to  their  convictions,  practise  the 
virtues  which  Christianity  commands,  obey  God 
rather  than  man,  defy  all  persecutors  and  martyr¬ 
dom,  possessed  of  a  serene,  abiding  faith  in  the 
glorious  gospel ! 

What  a  ring  of  truth  and  power  in  such 
words  as  these !  How  Luther  exalted 
that  only  book,  which,  with  God  as  its 
author  and  salvation  as  its  object,  has 
come  down  the  ages,  revealing  the  very 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one 
that  believes.  With  this  book  he  went ; 
through  it  he  saw  ;  by  it  he  conquered, 
striking  cruel  shackles  from  mind  and 
spirit,  dispelling  dark  clouds  that  covered 
the  firmament  of  the  church,  and  crown¬ 
ing  his  day  and  ours  with  benefits  and 
possibilities  vouchsafed  to  no  other  age  of 
the  world’s  checkered  life,  and  winning 
for  himself  meanwhile  a  fame  that  is  im¬ 
mortal. 

We  leave  our  interesting  subject,  recall- 

265 


flQactm  Hutber 


ing,  as  we  retire,  the  poet’s  lines  of 
which  the  noted  German  Reformer  is  so 
striking  an  illustration  : 

Great  offices  will  have 
Great  talents  ;  and  God  gives  to  every  man 
The  virtue,  temper,  understanding,  taste, 
That  lift  him  into  life,  and  let  him  fall 
Just  in  the  niche  he  was  ordained  to  fill. 


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